I'll Move Mountains
by Dhas
Summary: Destiny has a way of bringing the right people together. Toph Beifong is born with an earth quirk. From a young age, she's discouraged from ever using it, until she meets an airbender named Inasa that tells her they could be heroes. (A crime drama, a coming of age, a redemption story, and an action adventure all in one, because I can't pick a genre)
1. Book I: Thunder - A Porcelain Doll

Poppy's only daughter is born completely blind. Perhaps it's part of her quirk, suggests one doctor, looking at their family history. Lao's family claims to be directly descended from the glowing baby, the first recorded quirk in history. Every quirk in his family is a mutant-type, and manifests at birth. Another doctor in the room murmurs his skepticism.

Poppy Beifong doesn't care. Her daughter is blind. "I've failed you already," she whispers to the infant swaddled in her arms. "Please forgive me, Toph. I'll do better from now on. I will protect you."

The baby squirms at the sound of Poppy's voice, blinking gorgeous green eyes, the color of sea foam. Her smile is gentle and delicate. Such beauty, she thinks. And perhaps Toph's sight was the price of this beauty. Toph would be helpless in the world—and oh god, the world seems so much more dangerous now—and Poppy would have to shelter her baby from it. She touches the girl's cheek, so fragile and soft, and a seed of disappointment sinks into her mind. Lao is a good man, deserving of a healthy heir. This girl is not that.

_"What are we to do with you, my poor lotus?"_

* * *

Toph Beifong is no blooming lotus, but a hurricane from the moment she's born. She screams whenever she's laid down to rest in her crib, as if offended by silk sheets and the softest pillows. She's a finicky eater, angry during playtime, and bawls whenever they try to put socks on her.

(She is not fit to be seen, not ready for world, and they hesitate to introduce her at all)

The only time the Beifong child is ever content, it seems, is when she's curled up against someone's chest, able to press her face against a steady heartbeat.

That is, until her nanny sets her down on a granite countertop—_Just for a moment, Mrs. Beifong, I was only trying to reach for her bottle!_—and the infant goes still as stone, quiet as a shadow. The nanny, still reaching for the baby bottle at the time, did not notice the way Toph kicked her legs out, squirmed desperately to explore the counter. She did notice when Toph burst into tears, reaching out for the cool, stable surface after being lifted away.

After that, Toph is incorrigible. She _must_ be on the counter. Or the tiled floors. Or the stone pathway towards the gardens. She gives everyone hell if she's left in her padded playroom or any sort of baby carrier.

"It's like—it's like she can see when she's standing on earth," the nanny tries to explain why Poppy's two-year-old daughter looks like a poor farmer's child playing in dirt one afternoon. Toph digs her fingers into mud like she's finger-painting, and when the nanny scoops her up the girl kicks up such a fuss that no one notices the disturbed earth; that hard metamorphic rock yields to her chubby fingers as easily as clay.

"I will not have my daughter playing in dirt. If I come home to find her this filthy again, you will find yourself unemployed," Poppy Beifong promises.

Still, three nannies have to be fired before Lao and Poppy find someone that will do as they're instructed and keep Toph indoors.

(Three nannies, thousands of dollars, and four miscarriages before the Beifongs realize they must keep their daughter indoors)

Toph is four when she finds a nanny that will help her clean up and hide the evidence of her playtime. It's around that time that they take her to a quirk doctor to update her file in the quirk registry. She discusses her ability openly, but Toph is only four and no genius with words. "I can feel the ground. The rocks. I can see with them." She gives a demonstration, navigating easily on soil, gravel, cement and tile. Sand is troublesome, metal floors make her teeth hurt, and glass is unpleasant. She says nothing of her playtime, knowing her mother doesn't approve. The doctor notes that her sense of hearing is also heightened, and explains her quirk as a mutated form of her father's Sonar.

Her quirk is given the name _Earth Sense_; she can use any rock or mineral to sense her surroundings. Her ability manifested at birth, and while it's not certain that her blindness was caused by her quirk, it's certainly lent itself to her quirk's strength, which has steadily increased her range to about a hundred meters by age four through constant use.

They use a lot of other words to explain the details of her quirk—they say it's a mutant-type quirk, passively-active, no wonder she has trouble on wooden surfaces—and all Poppy and Lao hear is 'Your daughter is going to continue to play in dirt' and they both know immediately that they need to put an end to this Earth Sense before it causes them any trouble.

What they don't see is that Toph is also like earth in many ways—immovable as a mountain, planted like a rock in a river, stubborn and grating like sand. That every time Toph takes a step, she pushes her senses to their utmost limit, straining to catch every vibration, pairing it with every swish of fabric and hum of electricity and thump of a heart she can hear.

When she sets her feet on solid ground, it feels like an extension of herself. So when she insists to her parents _I can see, I can see everything just fine,_ she is not lying.

No one believes her.

* * *

Concessions are eventually made. There are no soft-plastic cups or bowls for Toph. Only stoneware, ceramic, fine china.

(Poppy is pleased by her daughter's fine motor skills, how delicately her flower can hold objects.)

Metals work too, though it takes some practice before Toph can fully sense the shape of a fork without poking herself with it. The only knives in the household are kept high on wooden shelves, as far as possible from the curious little Beifong.

The interior decor of their home does not change much. Lao's mansion in Japan is modeled after the Beifong property in China, and much of the interior is already wood and stone. Toph doesn't mind. If she wants to navigate on her own one day, she'll need to learn how to walk on all sorts of surfaces, from wood to carpet to those god-awful padded mats.

She does mind having to wear shoes, though, and at five-and-a-half years old, she carefully trims down the soles of every pair she owns to the bare minimum with a borrowed knife from the kitchen. A maid walks in while Toph's on the counter and promptly tattles on her, and Toph learns to keep a foot on her surroundings at all times—and then she finds the new hiding place for the knives. Poppy notices after five months, and Toph isn't allowed to leave the house for a week, not even to walk in the garden. It doesn't stop her from doing it all over again with her new shoes.

Her parents just don't get it. She is _earth_, she is _stone_. She needs to _feel the ground._

Toph must admit that her father does at least try to understand. Or perhaps he's just fed up with her tantrums. The doctor suggests taking her on a kid-friendly hiking trip so she can enjoy her quirk safely. Poppy is strongly against it, and they argue about it for days, but in the end, Lao orders a nanny (the one with a stretching quirk, perfect for keeping a child from harm) to accompany Toph for the outing. Lao Beifong has a sensory quirk like his daughter—an auditory one that allows him to use sonar. It was only after exploring his own quirk that Lao realized how he could hone his senses to find new mining sites for metal refinery. Maybe she'll find something useful about her quirk, Lao reasons.

He's right about his daughter, for once. Toph Beifong does learns something new about her quirk that day.


	2. Book I: Thunder - A Leaf in the Wind

It's way too easy to give her nanny the slip. Toph has perfected the art, and this caretaker is especially lax with the rules. Or rather, Yui-san has learned that damage control is much easier than Toph control.

The only problem is all the trees. And long grasses. And there's so much loose dirt, Toph can hardly see more than five feet ahead of herself.

"Fuck!" She growls. She heard the cook say it once after injuring his finger, and it feels appropriate even if she isn't sure what it means. Another branch whacks her in the face and Toph screams as she swats it away, feeling the lingering sting over her forehead. Slowly, she draws to a stop in the brush, scowling. "I know I can do this," she mutters venomously, slapping her cheeks. "Concentrate, Beifong!"

If she can't walk through a stupid forest without smacking into every plant, how is she ever going to get by on her own? Will she be stuck clinging to someone's arm, clutching a dumb walking stick, her entire life?

"Fuck, no." Toph breathes, and shuts her useless eyes. Concentrate. Be patient. Something tells her she has to be patient. There isn't much wind, but there's enough to make everything rustle and swish and crunch and chatter—ugh, it's all a mess in her ears, she needs more to understand what's around her. _Concentrate_, she thinks again, dragging one foot across the ground. _Too muffled._

After a moment Toph kicks off her shoes and yanks off her socks for good measure, and when she sets her feet down this time—"That's the stuff," Toph sighs in relief, pressing her toes into the earth. She focuses on the sensation, and then stomps on the ground experimentally. The vibrations spread around her as always, but the waves are muddled and dampened. Why? She can feel the earth there, it's all around, twisting between harder rocks and roots—

Roots. The plants. Ugh, nature. It's still muddling her senses. If she could just get her vibrations to go further, go faster, maybe—maybe—

Toph stomps harder. Nothing. She can feel the stupid tree on her right, though. She stomps again, shifting her weight as she does so—and there's a swish of leaves all around her, like the trees are quivering in fright.

Toph grins. _Yeah, you better be afraid of me,_ she wants to shout at the world. She spreads her legs, bending them at the knee to keep her balance. It feels right. It feels natural. Lifting her left leg high, Toph brings her foot down hard, like she's sending a message through the earth itself.

And the ground trembles beneath her. She can see everything, from the shuddering trees to tiny blades of grass. There's a crater around her foot, rippling outward in each direction. She did that? But she's not strong enough to break the rocks beneath her! And she's stomped on earth before, she's jumped and kicked and tapped the ground many times.

But not like this. Not while focusing her mind, reaching out to feel all around. Toph shifts back into her stance, knees bent, back straight—and when she stomps, she tells the earth to _m o v e_.

A boulder erupts in front of her. Unconsciously, she modifies her stance, raising a tight fist.

**_Crrr— k!_**

The punch is sharp and confident, but only as powerful as a little girl could make it. In the same instance she sees the whole shape and size of the rock and shatters it along its fault lines, reducing it to pebbles at her feet.

Her knuckles sting a little, and Toph shakes out her hand. The world before her is crisper than ever, and she doesn't need to stomp so much to feel the earth. There are natural vibrations here and there, a tree shuddering in the wind, a bug landing on a tall flower, and if she stays focused, Toph can see it all. The earth is _alive_.

Toph feels alive too.

She hastily tries calling up another boulder from the ground—and nothing. Her heart hammers in her chest. How did she do it the first time? She sent a shockwave through the ground, and the rock responded, right? It doesn't feel right. Toph screws up her face in concentration and begins stomping, punching, kicking. Just yelling at the earth doesn't work—just stomping on the ground won't get it to respond. Toph needs to fight it. _Give it an order_, and be purposeful about it.

She needs to—to _bend_ the earth to her will.

Toph digs her heel into the earth, and the ground rises to her will. She didn't even need to stomp this time. The earth just listens to her. She can bend it however she wants. Like in the old folktale of the Avatar, a legendary master of elements. The Avatar could bend the powers of nature.

_Earthbending_. She likes how that sounds.

* * *

She finds a clearing to practice in; an expanse of treeless ground with one side blocked off by a high cliff of jagged rocks. There, Toph finds out exactly what she's capable of doing.

Leaping off a shelf of earth, Toph roars as she pummels another boulder—_this one's at least twice her height!_—into dust. The shockwave ripples out around her, and she can feel the moment a fruit of some kind is shaken loose from a tree. Toph stretches out her hands eagerly, and something round and hard drops into her palms. She's grinning so hard, her cheeks are going to ache for days. She tries taking a bite and finds out it's a gross-tasting apple, but still.

The realization hits somewhere between punching through her eighth boulder and raising a (precarious) wall of earth twelve feet tall: Toph doesn't just see with her quirk, _she can fight with it._

And she _wants_ to fight, Toph realizes. Every rock she punches into dust, every tremor she can generate, it's _exhilarating_. Using her quirk like this is amazing. She wants to do this every day, for the rest of her life. She wants to show the world how awesome she is, how powerful she can be.

For once, Toph doesn't mind being blind. Not when she can do this.

Toph digs her hands into the earth, loving the way the ground softens beneath her, yields to her every command. She won't be treated like glass when she can crush boulders with her bare hands. They can't say she's fragile when she can lift mountains. So she gets to work.

* * *

With the skills of her nanny in cleaning up the evidence, Toph is allowed to return to the mountains every other week. Yui-san takes her by train one day while their driver is unavailable, and Toph is carefully quiet during the trip there and back, mapping out her path.

Then, Toph sneaks out on a Tuesday evening while her parents are away and the mansion is mostly empty. She has no train ticket, no money or phone. Her watch will read out the time to her if she presses it, and she keeps track of the hour while she practices. If even one thing had gone wrong, Toph could've been in serious trouble. She fumbles a few times, catching the eye of a concerned mother; a whispered conversation between two businessmen wondering where Toph's going. At one point Toph gets very close to being caught by a ticket inspector, but notices him in time to sneak away.

No one stops her.

She continues to practice whenever she can escape, and the older she gets, the easier it is to fool everyone. Toph learns which trains run late, and pays careful attention to the sort of people she encounters. Villainous activity is higher at night, and while Toph isn't afraid of anything, she's not stupid. She waits. She listens. She practices where no one will find her.

And that is Toph's life for the next year.

She's a week away from her seventh birthday when she meets Twinkletoes.

* * *

It starts with some odd rustling trees. Toph is still focusing on making a boulder three times her size float into the air, and ignores it. But the wind is strange. It's too… _sharp_.

"WHATCHA DOING?" A young, loud boy screams at her out of nowhere, and Toph gasps as the boulder crashes down at her feet. "OH MY GOD!"

Toph whips around, trying locate the voice. Why is it so windy? Suddenly the wind disperses and a person steps onto the earth—from where? _Did he fly?_—and Toph can sense a boy, taller and sturdier than her, standing just a few meters away.

"What're you doing here?" Toph demands, facing him.

"I'm hunting bugs! How'd you lift such a big rock? You must be pretty strong!" Something plastic and metal and cloth clatters to the floor by his feet. A box? A net? Whatever it is, he's abandoned it to talk with her.

She pauses, relaxing a little. "Yeah, I am," Toph agrees smugly.

"I'm strong too though! I can fly!" And then he jumps up and disappears from her again, completely baffling Toph. He's gone. Like a bird. She _hates_ birds. The wind disappears as he lands once more. "Hey, why do your eyes look like that?"

Toph scowls, belatedly fixing her bangs so they hang over her face. "They just do."

And instead of taking that for an answer, the boy takes as an invitation to run—dance?—right up to her to get a better look. "They're strange!" He exclaims cheerfully, and Toph flinches back at his closeness.

"Get away from me, _Twinkletoes_," She snaps, pushing his chest with both hands. He doesn't move as much as she'd like.

"Twinkletoes?"

"Yeah, Twinkletoes," Toph declares with a nasty grin, "Because you walk so lightly, I can barely sense it."

"_Sense_ it? Whatcha mean? And why aren't you looking at me? Are you sure your eyes are okay?"

"Shut _up_," Toph growls, tensing up. "Or I'll bury you alive!"

"Huh? Whaddya mean—?"

And then Toph has the earth swallow him up, right up to his waist.

_"HOLY MOLY! THIS IS AMAZING!"_

Okay. Not the response she was hoping for. "Keep yelling and I'll bury you all the way," Toph hisses, carefully listening for any more people nearby. "I'm not supposed to be out this late, you'll get me in trouble."

"OH! Oh. Okay!" He whisper-shouts. "Hang on, you can get me out of this, right?"

Toph pretends to think about it. "Only if you promise me something."

"Anything! I'm Inasa Yoarashi, by the way!"

"That's nice, Twinkletoes," Toph rolls her eyes and stomps on the ground, bending him out of the earth. "Now," she says ominously, jabbing a finger at him. _"I wanna fight you!"_

"WHAT?" He flails. She can hear his heart if she listens carefully, fluttering like a hummingbird. She can use that for when he's in the air, he can't hide from her that way.

"I don't wanna fight!" Inasa whines. "I wanna be friends!"

_… Friends?_

Toph is startled into silence. She didn't think of that. "You can be my friend IF you fight me," she decides. "Quirks allowed. First one to give up or get pinned down loses—we'll be careful, I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me," she promises.

He seems uncomfortable for a moment, shifting from foot to foot. "How about a time limit, too? And will you still be my friend if I win?"

(Privately, Toph thinks she'll _only_ be his friend if he wins)

"Yeah. Oh, and I'm Toph. Let's fight for… ten minutes?"

"I have a stopwatch!" Twinkletoes says eagerly, fiddling with the device on his wrist. "Okay, all set, Toph?"

She spreads her legs into a more balanced stance and grins. "Yep. Let's go, Twinkles!"

He presses a button to start the timer, and then leaps towards her.

* * *

Twinkletoes is _good_. He dances to dodge her rocks, and Toph has to dig her heels into the earth to withstand his powerful gusts of wind. They're both breathing heavily, hearts hammering, equally exhausted. But he's never seen someone like Toph fight before, and she's sure she's about to pin him down when his watch's timer starts beeping.

"Dang it!" She huffs.

Toph lets her attack crumble down to nothing as the dust settles. Then Twinkletoes leaps to his feet, sending dust everywhere anyway. "That was _fun!_ You're really cool, Toph!"

"Thanks," she grins, panting a little. "Your quirk is hard for me to fight."

"Right back atcha! They're like opposites! Earth and air!" He dances closer to her, breathless, with a smile in his tone. Toph earthbends them a bench to rest on, and he takes a seat very close to her. "Hey…Toph?" He asks timidly, or what could pass for timid in his case.

She dusts off her shirt. "Yeah?"

"Um. Why do you hide your eyes like that? You don't really seem like you're shy." He asks. Toph is a little surprised, but she's learned through fighting him that Inasa is more observant than he initially seemed.

After a moment of deliberation, Toph pushes her bangs carefully behind each ear, letting him see her eyes properly. She can hear his intake of breath as he puts the pieces together.

"You—You can't see me, can you?"

She hates the pity in his voice. It makes her want to fight all over again.

"How'd you fight me?" He continues curiously. "You're so good at it, too!"

Her mouth twitches upward. "I use my quirk. I can use it like another sense, so when your feet are on the ground, I can 'see' you."

"_Twinkletoes,_" The name dawns on the boy like a bright sun. "But, but you still can't see me when I'm using _my_ quirk!"

Toph snorts. "No, but I sure can _hear_ you."

He's practically vibrating with excitement, and reaches out to grab her shoulder urgently. "Toph, when are you gonna come back? We should fight again! Or, what's it called, sparring! It's good practice for when we're heroes!"

Toph blinks. "Heroes?"

"Yeah!" He pumps a fist into the air, and then looks at her curiously. "Don't you wanna be a hero?" He asks expectantly. Like it shouldn't even be a _question_. "You'd make an awesome hero, you're so good at it already!"

"Yeah," Toph agrees, her chest feeling light. His hand is still on her shoulder, a warm and friendly weight. "Yeah, let's be heroes, Inasa!"


	3. Book I: Thunder - The Elementals, Part I

Toph is seven years old when she gets kidnapped. She wakes up cold and disoriented, surrounded by the tinny, uncomfortable vibrations of metal. "What happened?" Toph groans, trying to focus her hearing. She's not the only one here, but there's only one other person moving. "Inasa?" she guesses hopefully.

"No," an unfamiliar boy answers, shuffling closer. "I'm the only one awake. Who are you?"

"Toph." There's a crackle of fire, and she flinches a little from the unexpected heat. "What are you doing?"

"It's too dark to see in here," the boy explains apologetically. Toph lowers her hands, facing the source of heat warily. "Are you okay? What happened to your eyes?"

Toph blinks, touching her face in confusion. "Nothing, I'm just blind."

"What—?"

"It's fine, it's always been like this," Toph cuts him off quickly, irritated. "Is Inasa here? He's tall, got a buzzcut."

The boy shuffles around some more as Toph presses her hands to the steel floor, concentrating. "I think this is him? He's the only other older kid here."

Toph frowns, having come to the same conclusion as she feels around the steel box they're in. In total there are fifteen kids in here, thirteen still unconscious. Most seem fine, Inasa included, but three seem to be shivering from the cold, their movements erratic in their sleep. "You've got a fire-type quirk, right? Some of the little ones are too cold, can you help them?"

He pauses, still crouched by Inasa. "Which ones?" He doesn't ask how she knows.

Toph gets to her feet carefully, grimacing at the ice-cold floor on her bare feet. Determinedly, she points out each kid, and together she and the fire boy collect them together and huddle beside them. "They look like they could have fire quirks," the boy observes, "So they could be sensitive to the cold." He shuffles over so the kids are mostly leaning on his left side, and Toph stays on the other side to squish them in.

"That's weird," Toph says quietly, half-focusing on Inasa's breathing.

"What is?" The boy asks.

"Well," Toph taps her foot rhythmically, "You've got fire, Inasa has a wind quirk, and I can control earth. What are the chances we're gonna find some water-quirks too?"

The boy hums in interest. "You think we might all be elemental users," he muses. "What's the last thing you remember, Toph?"

She thinks back, the memories surfacing slow and unwillingly like molasses through her head. "I was… playing with Inasa in a forest. Well, we were fighting, but we always do. And I heard someone approach. They just wanted to watch our fight, so we let 'em. Then he was all—angry? Excited? Maybe happy." She remembers the clink of metal and the whoosh of air, faster than anything Inasa's done. She still tried to dodge, but it nicked her. There's an ache in the meat of her shoulder, a bruise. "He shot us. Something to knock us out."

"I was taken from home," the boy shares. "Dad wasn't home that night, there were a few people that snuck in. I fought, but they knocked me out with some chemical."

Toph frowns. "Any idea why we're being kidnapped? My parents are rich, so I guess could be a ransom thing, but I don't know about everyone else." They didn't even ask for her name.

The boy is quiet. "Well, my dad's a pro hero. It could have something to do with that? Or," he pauses again, "Maybe it's to do with our quirks? Because we have elemental powers?"

"Maybe," Toph says, "But we don't know if everyone here has the same kind of quirk. What's your name, by the way?"

He seems to curl into himself, and speaks with all the confidence of a field mouse, "Shouto… My dad is Endeavor, the flame hero."

Toph's eyes widen, but she bites down on her exclamation quickly. He didn't seem so stiff until now, but his shoulders are tense and his heart is beating rather fast and she doesn't like it. "Okay," Toph says casually, placing a hand against the cold wall. "Um. Think you can melt us out of here?"

He shakes his head, limbs loosening a bit. "No, I thought of that. The metal's too thick, it'll take ages and it'll make the rest of the floor too hot to stand on. I can't tell who's out there guarding us, either." Shouto explains. A beat later, he adds, "I'm better with ice, anyway."

"Ice?" Toph repeats in confusion, lifting her head.

"My quirk is half-hot, half-cold. I… don't like to use the fire-side that much," Shouto admits, adjusting his arm around the two boys and one girl between them. They were all younger than Toph, but one of the boys was almost as big as her and it was hard to keep them all warm.

"So it's like, one hand has ice and the other has fire?" Toph guesses, judging by the way Shouto's sitting against the kids. It's kinda funny, it sounds like another Avatar myth, but she won't tell him that. "If it's too much then stop, but your ice can't help these kids as much as your fire right now," Toph reminds him.

"Oka—" Shouto cuts himself off as a metal door slams, somewhere outside the metal crate-thing they're in. Toph goes still, and then gets up from her spot next to the kids to get closer to the source. "Toph, you shouldn't—"

"Shh!" Toph raises a hand quickly, and Shouto quickly falls silent. She closes her eyes and stands as still as possible, listening. "I can hear them."

_"So you think any of the children are awake yet?"_ Someone stands by another metal wall—sheet metal, thin and tall, like a warehouse. He latches the door.

_"Haven't heard any crying yet, so no."_ The new speaker chews on a piece of gum noisily, leaning against a box like the one they're in. Are there more people? More boxes of kids?

_"You sure it was smart to grab the hero's kid? We've already made the morning news."_ A nervous man. His footsteps are heavy, and his voice warbles oddly, maybe he has a mutation quirk.

_"The boss wanted him for a reason. He's already halfway there, ya know, he's a good candidate. We'll be moving out within the day, they won't be able to track us after that."_ That's another speaker, one that speaks with sharp authority and treads like Inasa, light and airy. _"Once we get to the facility, we can complete Amon's vision and invoke the Avatar State once more."_

Avatar State? They really were using that folklore, the really old stories about... benders. Like her. She named her quirk after the bending art of those old stories. A lot of people do it, like the Agni family in China and the waterbending hero, Backdraft. _She told that stranger what her quirk was before he shot her!_

Toph doesn't like this. She doesn't like this at all, and she doesn't even know what they're doing. Where would they be moved to? Where's the boss, and how was he supposed to summon the Avatar? She doesn't have a single answer, but there are fourteen other kids trapped in here, Inasa isn't waking up, and Toph has had _enough_.

There's only one thing she can do.

She strikes the wall suddenly, viciously, palm out like she's striking rock. "HEY! YOU FREAKIN' CREEPS! LET US OUT SO I CAN KICK YOUR BUTTS!" Toph punches again, hating how the vibrations rattle her teeth. She screams in anger and stomps on the ground, letting loose the strongest vibration yet. "YOU HEAR ME, YOU PUNKS?! I'M GONNA TAKE YOU ALL OUT!"

"Toph, what are you doing?!" Shouto exclaims, and some of the children begin to stir. "You're gonna make them panic!"

"I'M GONNA GET US ALL OUTTA HERE BEFORE THESE MOOKS CAN LAY A HAND ON US!" Toph screams, banging the wall again. The vibrations she sends out are painful to focus on, but she does it. Eight, no, _nine_ captors. Plus the boss, if he's around but out of range.

A couple of the captors wander closer to their box. It's gotta be a shipment container, like the kind they use on freighter trains and trade ships. Her dad's described them before.

_"Hey, I guess someone's up,_" Chewing Gum comments, and kicks the outside of the box._ "Quit whining, girlie, it'll all be over soon."_

Toph screams and punches back, right where she thinks his crotch would be. He startles a little at the sound, but doesn't back off.

_"That's gotta be the earth girl, she's got a quirk like that rescue hero. The cat one, y'know."_ Flutterfoot speaks again, and Toph is close enough to recognize the voice as the person that went after her and Inasa. _"She's one of the stronger ones, but it's not a problem. She's blind."_

She strikes the wall again with a yell. "You're gonna regret hurting my friends!" Toph vows coldly. "When I bust outta here, I'm going after you first."

_"Uh huh. Keep dreaming, sweetheart. Maybe you'll be a hero in your next life."_

The threat sends a chill down her back, but Toph just screams and punches the wall again, harder than ever, willing and demanding and pleading for it to just **_move_**.

It doesn't.

Instead, she thinks the wall is _singing_, and it startles Toph so bad that she stumbles away from it, bewildered. "Toph!" Shouto yells sharply, "Get away from there, don't draw their attention."

Toph tears herself away from the odd, rippling sensation of the wall, stomping her way over to Inasa. He's beginning to stir, and she wants to hear her stupid friend's voice more than anything.

"Inasa," Toph holds his shoulder carefully, "Are you awake yet? C'mon Twinkletoes, I need your stupid help."

He groans, rolling onto his back. "Ugh. Toph? Toph, what happened? I feel… _bad._"

"We got freakin' kidnapped, and now we gotta save all these kids, so you're not allowed to cry," Toph explains succinctly, her words not a warning but a declaration. She points over her shoulder. "That's Shouto. Everyone else here is a baby."

"Shouto?" Inasa rubs at his face, peering at the other boy. "Um. Hi. I'm Inasa Yoarashi. What the heck is going on?"

"Toph just woke everyone up by banging on the walls," Shouto informs him irritably. "You shouldn't talk to them, Toph, we don't know what they want or if they're—"

"I know what they want," Toph cuts him off, folding her arms. "We need to get outta here before they move us…" she trails off as the younger kids stir and awaken, and Toph can sense their panic settling in. She clamps down on any panic of her own. "Shouto, gimme some light?" She asks abruptly, helping Inasa to his feet. "The kids are scared."

"How can you always tell?" Shouto murmurs, but complies anyway, judging by the flare of heat and crackle of flames near her. Toph takes a deep breath and slaps on the sweet smile she usually reserves for her parents and home tutors. She has to act like everything's okay, that's what heroes do.

"Hi everyone! My name is Toph. This is Twinkletoes, and that's Icy-Hot. Is anyone hurt? Can you tell me your names?" She elbows Inasa sharply, making him yelp.

"Yes! I'm Twinkle—NO, my name is Inasa, _c'mon_ Toph!"

"Hush, Twinkles, go check if anyone's hurt." Inasa groans dramatically and hops away, apparently over his sleepiness.

One of the kids closest to them giggles at their antics. Another one is still panicking. "Wh-Where are we? I wanna go home!"

Toph kneels, grabbing the girl's hands gently. Toph focuses on her panicked heart. "What's your name?"

"H-Himari," she says softly. She's maybe five years old, if Toph had to guess.

"Himari-chan, don't be afraid. We're stuck in here, and there are villains outside, but we're going to get out of here soon." She squeezes the girl's hands, feeling her shake. "Are you cold?"

"Yes—oh," she tugs her hands out of Toph's, cupping her mouth. Suddenly Toph feels the brush of warmth over her face, a sort of pop-crackle to go along with it. "I can make hot sparks with my breath. I can warm up myself!"

Toph nods, not able to quite smile. Another fire-type quirk. They really did gather up elemental kids. "That's great, Himari-chan. Can you help Shouto warm up the other kids?"

She exhales again, a few more sparks crackling around the girl's face. "I-I can try?" Toph directs her to Shouto, who is amassing a small army of pre-school children.

"You look funny!" One boy points at Shouto's head. "Like—like a peppermint."

"Yes," Shouto agrees serenely, apparently accepting this description. She'll have to ask about that later on, what the hell did peppermints even look like? "This side makes ice, and this one makes fire."

A girl gasps in delight. "Icy-Hot! I get it!"

"Icy-Hot, I can make ice too, and water and steam!"

"...My name is _Shouto_, actually."

"Can you make snow? My daddy can, but I make bubbles!"

"Ah. I don't think I should make snow right now, it's already cold."

Toph grins, helping another boy to his feet. He's got tiny, feathery wings attached to his forearms, and he's very light, as if his bones are hollow like a bird's. "How do you feel, Feathers?"

"Feathers…?" The boy says tiredly, and then brushes a hand over his arms. "I'm _Yuuto_, not Feathers!" he declares fearlessly. "And I'm fine!" His heart says otherwise.

"Do you have an air quirk, Yuuto?" Toph asks. "Wanna meet my friend Inasa? He can control wind."

"I—really?" Yuuto's heart jumps as surprise overtakes his worry. "The Twinkle boy?"

"I'm not Twinkletoes, I'm Inasa!" Her friend dances over to the clump of kids around Shouto, landing beside Yuuto.

"You can fly!" Yuuto says in wonder.

"Kind of!" Inasa agrees excitedly, and they usher the feathered boy to Shouto.

The half-hot half-cold boy is getting a lot of attention. Shouts of "I like your hair!" and "You're pretty, Shou-chan!" surround the boy, who seems unable to respond.

Toph stomps on the ground—lightly, but enough to rattle the box—and places her hands on her hips. "Listen up, everyone! We're gonna be saved by heroes, but until then we have to keep each other feeling safe and warm." The atmosphere has changed dramatically since Toph first woke everyone up, hearts calmed, breaths unworried. It's much easier for her to focus now.

"Oh!" Inasa raises his hand for some reason. "We should have a buddy-system. Toph and Shouto and me are the oldest, but we can't look after everyone, okay? So—pair up! Take care of your partner!"

Toph gives a sharp nod of approval as the kids pair up easily, chattering about their quirks. They're all young enough to be familiar with buddy-systems that schools give. Most of them pair up with kids with similar quirks, though Himari pairs with Yui, who shoots water from her fingers.

Inasa grabs Toph's elbow, and mutters to her, "What's the plan?"

Toph drags him over to Shouto, who's been very quiet this whole time and is hard for her to read. The younger kids are all distracted, calmer than before, and Toph thinks she can speak without them overhearing anything. "I can hear everyone outside this box," Toph begins, and Shouto leans closer. "I counted nine, but they mentioned a boss, too."

"Could ya hear 'em say anything about what they want with us?" Inasa asks eagerly.

Toph hesitates, and then gives another short nod. "It's about our quirks. They wanna do something with them."

Shouto wraps his arms around his knees. "So you think they need us alive. That's why you weren't afraid to yell at them?"

"Yeah. But they know your dad's gonna come after them. Those mooks plan on moving us before the end of the day."

"You dad?" Inasa inquires, turning to Shouto.

"My dad's a pro hero," Shouto says shortly, deliberately leaving it vague. "Toph, what else do you know?"

Toph chews her lip. "Well, about our quirks. They said the boss wanted you, Shouto, because you're already 'halfway there'. And you sort of have two elements as a part of your quirk, right? They want experiment on us or something to combine elements. For that to happen, they can't hurt us until after we're moved—so now's our only time to strike."

"What?" Inasa yelps, before Toph slaps a hand over his loud mouth. He speaks through her fingers. "I don't like this at all! How can we get help? I don't even know where we are!"

Toph pulls her hand away, pulling her legs in. "I don't know," she snaps. "Pull yourself together, Twinkles, we don't have time for fear, and we don't have time to be rescued. We need to bust out on our own." It's what she realized when those villains were talking. To pull off a kidnapping of this scale, they had to have a plan to get them out quickly, but they chose young kids for a reason. There was no time to waste.

And Toph's blood was _boiling_, she was _not_ going down easy. Her parents think she's weak enough as is, and she still has to prove the whole world wrong and become a hero.

Inasa whines, but manages to keep his voice down. "Toooppph, nooo, this isn't a game! How're we supposed to fight, anyway? How're we supposed to get out of this box? There's ten villains and three of us old enough to maybe fight. And we're seven!"

"Toph," Shouto cuts in smoothly, "Are… are you cold? Your feet look blue."

"Blue?" Toph frowns at the non sequitur.

"That's what happens when they're cold," Inasa explains, shifting to get a better look at her. "Oh, yikes!" He places a hand on her foot and Toph flinches back, almost kicking him in the face.

"Quit it!" Toph snaps. "Don't touch my feet!"

"But you're cold!" Twinkletoes protests. "Shouto, help me out. She's tiny and barefoot and stubborn as a rock!" He dodges a swipe of Toph's hand.

"That doesn't mean I need help, Airhead."

"But you are cold," Inasa argues.

"...Maybe… put your feet against my thigh?" Shouto suggests awkwardly. "I won't make more fire, I can just make it warm." He turns his left side to face her, stretching out a leg. "Put your feet out. You can't fight with numb toes."

After a moment of tense silence, Toph deflates and sticks out her feet. She still twitches when Shouto's hand grabs her ankle, guiding her to rest on his warm side. Inasa hugs her suddenly from behind, engulfing her whole torso with his stupidly long arms, and Toph vows to punch him in the face when they're out of this mess.

Toph huffs, blowing hair out of her face. "I think I can break through this box," she says finally, sinking into Inasa's warmth. "I wasn't just banging on the walls 'cause I was mad. I can see through the vibrations. I can feel my surroundings that way. And I was hitting the wall so hard, I was trying my best to feel everything I could…"

She flexes her hands experimentally. They sting a little bit, and she thinks they're going to be in pretty bad shape by the end of this. _But it's okay as long as I can save everyone._

Toph clenches her hands into fists. "Metal comes from earth, doesn't it? I'll make an exit for us."

"You think you can do that?" Shouto asks skeptically.

Toph nods resolutely. "I have to, so I will."

Inasa hugs her tighter. "Toph, how can you just say cool stuff like that? You're so quotable, like a pro hero, ne, Shouto?"

Shouto doesn't answer at first, and Toph gets the feeling she's being stared at. Twinkletoes is hugging the hell out of her, and Shouto is touching her feet, and suddenly Toph isn't cold at all. In fact, she's very warm, and maybe feels like melting or punching someone. She vows to punch Inasa twice when this is over.

"Yeah," Shouto says finally, and Inasa waits for him to say more, but he doesn't.

"Wah!" The wind boy exclaims. "You're just as cool! So mysterious! I like it!"

"...Thanks?"

Toph rolls her eyes. "We need a plan. I don't want any of those kids getting hurt. You guys don't have to fight if you don't want to, but—"

"Are you kidding, Toph?" Twinkletoes interrupts, "No way are you gonna fight alone! We're all gonna save each other, aren't we?" He looks to Shouto.

"I can fight," he says solemnly. "But they might have guns, and more tranquilizer bullets to knock us out," he reminds them.

"Ha! I won't let that hit me again!" Inasa declares. "I was caught off-guard before, but I'm fast! I can blow them away if I see it coming."

"Just don't blow me away too," Toph mumbles. "I'll tell you if I hear any guns being drawn. I know what they sound like now. So, here's what I know about the villains down there…"

* * *

The three elemental children huddle together, Toph squished between them, as they discuss their plan. They probably take longer than they should, and have to stop frequently to check on the younger kids, but finally, Toph untangles herself from the boys and gets to her feet. The boys go over to keep the little ones calm, and Shouto forms a careful wall of ice so that none of them try to follow them out.

She cracks her knuckles and stretches her arms, spreading her legs until she's standing in a deep squat, firmly balanced on the warmed metal floor. Then she takes a deep breath and screams, "HEY YOU DUNDERHEADS DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME?!" while striking the metal with both hands precisely. It doesn't move, but Toph isn't worried.

She stomps the ground again, hands flying out. "IF YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME, YOU'RE DEAD WRONG!" She declares, punching the walls before her.

_"Oh great, the girl's at it again,_" Chewing Gum is the first to complain. None of them come near the container this time, already familiar with her tantrum. _"C'mon kid, pipe down. It's not like there's anyone around to hear you!"_

Toph roars back, still working the metal. It's hard. Brittle and unyielding. She slams her hands down again, searching. She screams, a battle cry and a shout of frustration at the same time. "C'mon, metal," Toph mutters to herself, folding an arm and striking with a hard elbow. Her hands are beginning to ache. "**Move.**"

Toph leans back, and then punches the wall decisively—and her teeth rattle as the wall _sings_ to her again. She huffs out a laugh and does it again, ignoring the spike of pain down her left arm. Her knuckles might be bleeding by now, but it doesn't matter. Toph punches once more, readying herself.

"Here we go, nerds!" Toph shouts back to Shouto and Inasa, turning her attention to the far side of the box, out of the villains' sight. She slides back into her stance. The boys shift, bracing themselves.

Toph explodes through the wall, the metal screeching terribly, and wastes no time tearing a hole large enough for them to escape through.

"What the _fuck_ was that?" A woman demands. Toph is ready. Twinkletoes is practically vibrating in excitement. Shouto's heart rate picks up.

Inasa screams out a heartfelt battlecry as he leaps off the top of the shipping container, aiming straight for the Flutterfoot, the woman who walks on air. The woman dodges, and that's when Toph strikes from below, punching out with a boulder and throwing her across the warehouse. Shouto freezes her carefully in place.

Toph laughs maniacally as she reveals herself to the eight others, drawing their eyes. _"WHO'S NEXT?!"_


	4. Book I: Thunder - The Elementals, Part 2

Endeavor _hates_ working hostage situations. He hates working with local heroes, too. And most of all, he hates the fact that it's been _six_ hours and they still haven't found his _goddamn son._

Enji slams a hand down on the conference table. "There's been fourteen other cases of kidnapping in the past two days, and I'm only _just_ hearing about this now?!"

"Well," an officer flounders, "They're all over the place, and it happened so suddenly. We just caught wind of a villain group gaining momentum. They call themselves the Elementals, and it's not clear what they want, but all the kids fit the same criteria as their group members—they all have primarily elemental quirks. It could be related to that Avatar religious organization. Your son is the only one with opposing elements as his quirk, I'd say they chose to take him because it's closer to what the Avatar could accomplish."

Enji scowls down at the files. The rest of the children taken were nobodies, no ties to heroes or villains or political figures. Except for the rich Beifong girl, whose quirk can hardly be called an elemental-type. Enji frowns at her records, which were vague and unhelpful. _Quirk: Earth Sense_. What the hell did that mean?

"Chief! Endeavor! We've got a lead!" Someone comes barreling into the room, waving a paper in his hand. "Endeavor—your son called! We have a location—"

"What?!" Enji gets to his feet and snatches the report out of the man's grasp. "Get your men ready. I'm going on ahead." He turns to the other pro heroes on the case with an expectant look.

The Water Hose duo are already on their feet, so at least they're taking this seriously. "We'll get your son back, Endeavor," the wife promises. Enji huffs and walks away.

* * *

What they find when they finally reach the location of the call—a warehouse at the far end of an abandoned shipping yard—is not what any of them expect.

A child screams, and the Water Hose duo sprint ahead, leaving Enji behind. He's not an idiot like them. The scream devolves into unrestrained laughter as the heroes approach a wide, earthen play-pen outside the warehouse, filled with the missing toddlers. They're screaming like banshees because they're _playing_. He's familiar enough with the way Fuyumi and Natsuo screech at each other.

An older kid with a buzzcut is the first to look their way, and he shoots into the air and screams,"EVERYONE, THE HEROES ARE HERE!" before floating back down to sit beside two other children. _"HOLY CRAP, YOU NEVER SAID YOU DAD WAS ENDEAVOR!"_

The Water Hose team deals with the younger kids as they climb off monkey bars and slides, made from a combination of earth and ice. There's even a pile of snow at the end of one looping slide that must be Shouto's work. A quick headcount tells him that all fifteen children reported missing are here, and none of them seem gravely injured.

_What the hell happened?_

Enji's eyes find Shouto easily enough. He's sitting between the wind-quirk boy, likely Inasa Yoarashi, and a tiny girl—Toph Beifong, the rich girl with an earth-type quirk.

"Father," he calls in greeting. Enji scans over his son, wondering why he hasn't bothered getting up. Then his eyes slide over to the girl. She has her hands flat against Shouto's icy right forearm, trying to alleviate a mess of cuts and inflamed skin.

"What happened here?" Enji demands, lifting his eyes to search the area for their captors.

"There were ten villains," Shouto explains easily, watching Enji like a hawk. "Most of them are still unconscious."

"Toph trapped them in one of those crates to be sure!" The wind boy, Inasa Yoarashi, pipes up, a huge grin on his face.

The girl nods, not looking up from the ground. Her foot taps on the ground erratically. "They're all in there, even their dunderhead of a boss," the girl's voice is high-pitched and a lot more impudent than he'd expect.

Enji looks past them, into the open entrance to the warehouse. There _does_ seem to be a shipping container in sight, warped, coated in ice, and half-buried in the ground.

Again, _what the hell happened here?_

"Stay where you are," he calls to them, venturing towards the crate alone. The Water Hose team hover at the exit, on standby as he approaches. It doesn't take long to confirm the the kids' story, and Endeavor is walking back to the earth playground before he knows it, feeling distinctly underutilized. He flips on his communicator and explains the situation to the SWAT team.

As the police forces march out to the warehouse, Endeavor crouches beside the three seven-year-olds. It'll be some time before the ambulances make their way to this remote location, so the job falls to the heroes to look after the victims."Good. You've kept the swelling down enough to wrap up her hands, Shouto," he says approvingly, unzipping the small pouch on the back of his belt. "Do you have any other injuries, Ms. Beifong?"

The girl huffs, lifting her hands off of Shouto. "Nope." She holds out her hands expectantly and Enji gets out a roll of gauze to wrap the injuries. "Twinkletoes has a twisted ankle… and Himari-chan is about to freak out, though."

Enji frowns at Beifong, intrigued by her answer, when a piercing wail cuts through the air as a younger girl begins to cry hysterically. Enji turns back to look at the scene, and sees the husband Water Hose hero frantically putting out small fires caused by the girl's sparking quirk. Endeavor quickly decides the other heroes can handle that mess.

He looks at Beifong once more, suspicious. "Your quirk is listed as Earth Sense in your records. Is that really all it is?"

She looks surprised at the question. "That's only part of it. I call it Earthbending, actually, like in the folktales," she admits, "And I could only move rocks, but today I punched through steel." She seems incredibly satisfied with herself, even with her broken and bleeding knuckles. "So I'm thinkin' as long it comes from earth, I can sense it and I can fight with it."

_Odd_, Endeavor thinks, still peering at the tiny girl. He would never think a girl of her size would have much control over a quirk with so much destructive power. Enji had looked at her family history to get a better idea of what sort of quirks the villains were targeting; the Beifong girl's quirk seems like a version of her mother's crystal manipulation. He doesn't overlook her decision in naming the quirk either; if the Elementals were searching for the mythical 'benders' of the Avatar stories, of course they'd go after anyone with _earthbending_.

But even Earthbending doesn't explain how she punched through steel. _Weird kid._

"That's how she hurt her hands," Shouto supplies quietly, his eyes fixed on the girl. "We were all locked in a shipping container. My fire and Inasa's wind wouldn't work without hurting everyone else too."

"So Toph just says, 'metal comes from earth' and started beating the hell outta the wall!" Yoarashi continues the story eagerly. "And then she punched us outta there, and she made a plan to beat the villains together, and then we got the kids out, and then we locked the villains in a crate!"

"And then Shouto and I made a playground and called you from one of the villain's phones," Beifong finished tersely. "Is it just you and the water people here?"

"Yes," Endeavor affirms. "The Water Hose team."

Beifong pouts all of a sudden, blowing on a strand of hair that hangs over her face. "Aw man. I'm never gonna meet Pixie-bob, am I?"

"Tooooopppphhh!" the wind boy whines. "We're meeting the Number Two Hero! You can't start talking about some mountain rescue hero now!"

Toph arches an eyebrow, facing Enji. "Just watch me," she deadpans. Yoarashi collapses dramatically. "Pixie-bob makes monsters out of rock and soil. She can cause landslides—or stop landslides—and basically make _mountains_ if she wanted to."

Enji pauses to stare, surprised she has the audacity to actually start discussing this with him. But her hands are shaking, and he suspects that talking helps distract her from the pain. He sneaks a look at Shouto, who seems just as flabbergasted.

"...The cat-theme they have doesn't make any sense, but I'll let it slide. Ragdoll is weird but she can sense people, and I can sense people, so I like her too. Tiger can stay because he fights in a skirt, and I respect that…"

At this point the wind boy is laughing boisterously, and Beifong stops to grin. Shouto doesn't say anything, but he's clearly listening. Behind them on the playground, one of the boys trips and begins to bawl.

"Oh no!" Yoarashi exclaims sympathetically, hobbling to his feet. "Yuuto-chan, everything's fine! DON'T WORRY—" And then Yoarashi falls flat on his face.

Beifong's head turns to him sharply. "Quit running around, dummy." She slides her foot across the ground and the rock in front of Yoarashi disappears into the ground. Enji finishes wrapping one hand and moves onto the next, his frown deepening.

"You shouldn't be using your quirk right now, Ms. Beifong," Endeavor warns her. "You're already injured, and it's against the law. You three may have been able to fight off your captors, but what if they'd been stronger?"

"Then I'd beat them," Beifong answers bluntly, lifting her head. "And if they were strong enough to defeat me, _I would still beat them._"

Somehow she manages to look Endeavor straight in the eye as she says this. The look on her face is chilling, her expression set in stone. He's never met someone so young with so much arrogance.

Except maybe himself. He can't decide if he likes this girl's attitude or if it's just irritating.

"Toph!" Yoarashi exclaims, rolling onto his back. "You're so _awesome_. You gotta marry me, we're gonna make such a cool hero partners—"

"I'm not marrying anyone that can't beat me in a fight," Beifong replies with a mean look, as if this is a common argument between them. Endeavor focuses on her hands, biting the inside of his cheek to stop from snorting out loud. "So that rules out you, Twinkletoes."

The boy is undeterred. "I'll be stronger when we're older! Then I'll beat you!" He declares it like a heartfelt confession of love.

Enji finishes wrapping her hands and turns to the wind boy reluctantly. "Does your ankle hurt?"

The boy gets the biggest smile on his face and sticks his right foot into the air. "Shouto iced it earlier so I can't feel it! I never knew Endeavor knew first aid! This is amazing!"

Shouto and Beifong both scoff at the wind boy's antics. "Every hero knows first aid," Enji growls out, testing out the boy's range of motion. "We're usually on the scene before any first responders, so it's necessary. Don't put weight on that foot." He doesn't care for this part of the job, but he'd much rather deal with three slightly-older children than the twelve toddlers in the Water Hoses' care.

"Roger that!" Yoarashi salutes him. Enji's eyes slide over to his son again.

"You're not hurt?"

"No." Shouto's eyes are fixed on the Beifong girl's hands.

"Good." Enji stands. "All of you come with me, there's a van coming to transport you to the hospital."

"Shouto too?" The earth girl inquires hopefully. She's moved to be on Shouto's fire-side, and now that they're all standing she looks even smaller between the two boys. He shoots his son a questioning look, but the boy doesn't meet his eye.

"Yes," Endeavor answers, "Shouto still needs an official check up like the rest of you, and you each will have individual accounts to tell the police."

"So it's over?" She asks softly, face turned up to Endeavor neutrally.

"It is," he promises.

Beifong sucks in a deep breath of air and sighs loudly. Then she turns to the wind boy and elbows him twice in the arm, quick as a cat. It's oddly graceful, and he wonders if she's being trained in martial arts.

"OW! _TOPH!_"

"That's for being an airhead all the time!" She shouts at him. "I promised to punch you but I can't wait that long! I'm glad we didn't die!" her voice sort of breaks at the end, but she doesn't cry.

"Aw, Toph, I love you too!" He shouts back.

The Water Hose woman coos. "They're adorable. I can't wait to have kids."

"Ah," her husband looks nervous, still smoking from where his suit caught fire from that Himari girl, "Maybe not too many, please?"

Endeavor supposes this is the best way a mass kidnapping could turn out, but he doesn't have to like it. He looks away to oversee the other children as they file into the van.

Toph whips around to confront Shouto, who goes stock-still at the expression on her face. She glares at him for a little longer before wrapping her arms around him in a wordless hug, favoring his fire-side.

"Thanks for warming us up and everything. And icing my hands." She mumbles. After a long silence, Shouto lets his arms settle around her in return.

"You're welcome," he replies.

Suddenly there's a shout from Inasa and they're all but attacked by the bigger boy, and he immediately uses his quirk to lift them up into a spinning, flying mess. "GROUP HUG! WE MAKE SUCH A GREAT TEAM!" He laughs joyously while Toph screams and Shouto silently hangs on for dear life. "WE'LL BE THE ELEMENTAL TRIO OF THE HERO WORLD! Isn't that an awesome group name?"

"It's LAME!" The girl shrieks. "Put me down! When I barf I'm gonna aim for you!"

"Hey!" Endeavor barks at the three of them. "I told you to stay off your leg, get down!"

Looking properly chastised, Yoarashi lets them all float lazily to the ground, apologizing over and over. Beifong takes over for Enji in berating the wind boy.

Enji just stares at Shouto. He shouldn't allow his boy to fraternize so much. There'll be no need for hero team-ups for the future Number One. By the look on Shouto's face he's well aware of that, so Enji says nothing. They'll be going over new self-defense tactics once this case is properly closed.

Beifong makes to lunge at the wind boy but Shouto deftly catches her before she can throw a punch with her injured hands. "I didn't say you could hug me!" She howls at Yoarashi.

"BUT YOU HUGGED SHOUTO!"

"SHOUTO DOESN'T _FLY_."

The wind boy settles down, having flown up again to hide from Beifong. "So can I get a hug too if I don't spin or make us fly?"

Beifong scowls, stepping away from Shouto and Yoarashi to cross her arms. "No. I've had enough of this mushy stuff. Hey you brats! Get moving, we gotta go!"

The boys trail after her, helping corral the last few kids. They've been reluctant to leave the jungle gym, but Toph's shout and seeing the older boys follow suit seems to be enough to convince them.

Endeavor shuts the door to the van while the three children are bickering.

* * *

Since none of the kids were severely injured, they choose to make the trip to a farther hospital, one in the center of the prefecture and closest to the precinct that was in charge of the case. When the van finally arrives at the hospital, swamped by reports and cameras, all fifteen kids are fast asleep.

The Water Hose duo exchange a look with Endeavor. "I think we should let them rest. It's been a stressful day for them all." With that, they begin to carry the smaller children inside in, two at a time given how they've seemed to pair up on their own.

Endeavor carries the oldest trio in together, turning off the flames on the majority of his costume. The Beifong girl is the only one to stir, though he expected her to be the most exhausted of them all.

As they pass through the children's ward she becomes more lucid, suddenly tilting her head so her ear rests firmly against his chest. Enji blinks down at the girl. He can't recall the last time any of his offspring had tried to do anything like this with him, not even Fuyumi, but the Beifong girl looks comfortable. Did she even know who was carrying her?

"Endeavor," she draws his attention. "We're at the hospital?" she asks, though she sounds rather certain of herself. He wonders again how her quirk works.

He grunts in acknowledgement. She then turns to press her face against Yoarashi's shirt and mutters quietly, almost too muffled for him to hear, "I don't want to go home."

Odd.

But, he assumes she's disappointed that their brief spot in the limelight is over. She seems very proud of her efforts to save the other children, and no amount of scolding could change that. So Enji brushes off her comment as petulant and child-like. She comes from a rich family, and she probably thinks of it as a boring life compared to today's excitement. A child like her couldn't understand just how fortunate this situation turned out.

Doubt still stirs in his gut.

"What are you talking about?" Endeavor asks slowly, immediately knowing he's going to regret it. He should be walking faster so he can get rid of her. But then again, he was walking so slowly so he didn't have to deal with the toddlers.

Beifong blinks a few times, realizing she had been overheard. "My parents don't understand," she says finally, lowering her eyes. "Nevermind. They can't stop me anyway."

"Stop you from _what?_" He doesn't like how this is all sounding. Beifong is vague, but it's clear she's upset about something.

"Doesn't matter what," she decides, and turns her head away angrily.

That seems to be the end of it for now. He'll make a note of it in his report, but there wasn't much to go off of. Toph Beifong doesn't seem scared of going home, just… unwilling. But then again, Enji highly doubts that this girl has a healthy sense of fear if she chose to confront ten villains rather than wait for help. And there was another issue of the girl's quirk not being properly registered by her parents or doctor. Is that what Beifong meant when she said they 'don't understand' her? It's a huge oversight to mis-identify a quirk so powerful, but given that she's blind and looks like a doll, she must be underestimated often.

Parents weren't all-seeing and all-knowing. Her records have a mistake, that's all.

Endeavor is still thinking about it as he deposits each child on their own cot, leaving Toph for last since Shouto's still fast asleep. Enji frowns at the angry look on the seven-year-old girl's face, but as he sits down between her and Shouto her anger melts into confusion.

"Why are you still here?"

Enji rolls his eyes. "You and Yoarashi were injured. Your parents were worried, and I'll be expected to reassure them as the lead-hero on this mission." He doesn't bother hiding the disdain in his tone. He hates talking to parents, they always ask prying questions about his family like they have any right to know the details of his life.

Beifong snorts. "Good luck avoiding a lawsuit."

He frowns questioningly at her before remembering she's blind and rolling his eyes. "What do you mean?" he bites out the question. "There were no issues with how we handled this operation. You're all safe."

She raises her hands pointedly. "You did that to yourself," Enji argues irritably, "I wasn't even _there_."

(And damn it does that make him frustrated. While the children are all safe, Endeavor doesn't believe this case is over. It was too simple. How could the group that simultaneously abducted fifteen children _lose a fight_ to said children? The captured villains were in for a long night of questioning.)

"I'm not the one blaming you," Beifong replies lightly, though there's a small frown on her face. "There's no way my parents are gonna believe it's _not_ your fault. 'Our little flower, punching through steel? That's absurd. How could you let this happen?'" Her voice takes on a mocking, high-pitched tone to imitate her mother. "They're not gonna believe I did this on my own." She seems... disappointed, somehow.

"Why not? The evidence is all there." Endeavor asks annoyedly. He really hopes her parents aren't as insufferable as she claims.

Beifong lets her hands drop back onto her stomach. "Yeah, well," she prevaricates again, shutting her eyes. "You'd be surprised how blind people with working eyeballs can be."

For the first time Endeavor finds himself agreeing with the sour little girl. He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms with a scoff. He figures now is as good a time as any to bring it up... "Is that why your quirk isn't properly documented?"

She exhales slowly. He can't read even a hint of emotion on her face. "I'm tired," Beifong deflects the topic neatly. "Thanks for saving us or whatever."

So much for brushing this off as a child's petulance. Now he's _certain_ that something's wrong. "You saved yourself, Toph," Enji admits gruffly, getting up from his chair. "That cannot be overlooked."

* * *

He gives his report after meeting the Beifong family. They're not quite that horrible, and they don't threaten to sue him, but they do brush off every comment about their daughter's quirk up until Enji informs them that her quirk registration will be updated by a physician. He watches the smile freeze on Mrs. Beifong's face, the stony look Mr. Beifong casts his way.

"That's not necessary, Mr. Todoroki," Lao Beifong says at last. Enji bristles at the use of his civilian name. He's in _costume_ for god's sake. "We'd feel more comfortable arranging an appointment with our family physician at this time. Toph is so young, she wouldn't feel at ease with some no-name doctor at this public facility."

"It's already been arranged, I'm afraid," Enji replies flatly. "Her registration doesn't match up with what we witnessed at the warehouse in the slightest, and unless you want to call into question the validity of over twenty eyewitness reports, I would allow the quirk doctors here to re-evaluate her abilities."

"I'll still have to decline," Lao's jaw is set, and for once, Enji can see the resemblance between the man before him and his stubborn daughter. "For the sake of my daughter's comfort, you see. She's just been through an awful situation, same as _your_ youngest son." Enji stares. Just what is this asshole insinuating about Shouto? "If you or your people take issue with my decision, please contact my lawyer. We'll be taking our daughter home now to recuperate in peace."

There's already a sleek black car idling by the entrance to the hospital. The girl passes by Enji, a curtain of loose hair shielding her face. Her mother holds her hand, and Enji never would've thought he'd see that arrogant brat look so _cowed_. It's infuriating in far more ways than he expected. He can't catch the mother's eye; she looks straight ahead to avoid him, statuesque and austere.

Sweet Kami, he's never been outclassed so _blatantly_. Who _were_ these Beifongs anyway? Enji watches them with steel in his eyes. There is something wrong with this picture, and he won't rest until he finds out what.

"This isn't over," Enji says to Lao Beifong as a doctor he's never seen before signs off on the girl's release forms.

He's met by cold sea-green eyes and a frigid smile. "Yes, it is," Lao replies, turning his back on the hero.


	5. Book I: Thunder - Bitter Work

"I'm sorry, dear," is the first thing her father says to Toph that night, just after they've finished their last course of dinner. It's been a whole afternoon of utter silence between the three Beifongs.

Toph immediately straightens up, carefully monitoring her father's mood. It's always been hard to tell with him.

"...I'm sorry it took you being kidnapped for us to realize how… _poorly_ we've handled your upbringing."

She doesn't know what he means. He doesn't sound worried or angry, just… tired. "It's okay, father. I don't blame you for all that's happened."

"But you _should_, dear," he shakes his head, setting down his chopsticks. "You're clearly acting out, and it's gone unchecked for too long."

The shift in his tone is sharp and biting. Toph stiffens. "What? I-I'm not—"

"Don't interrupt your father," he reminds her, and Toph's mouth clamps shut. "You've been using your quirk, in public and unsupervised," he accuses. "You were _taken_ because of that quirk, Toph. You could've been _killed_ because of it."

The words ring oddly in her head. _That_ quirk. Like he blames the power itself. She frowns. "Isn't it—isn't it the villains' fault? They wanted elemental quirks, I told the officers everything about it, we were picked because—"

"This isn't about the _villains_, Toph! We don't discuss _villains_ at the dinner table, it's unbecoming," Lao derails her argument, sighing heavily. Toph purses her lips. "You snuck out. You disobeyed me when we've been telling you all along that your ability was dangerous. You went out to use your quirk, and now villains are after you."

What, like villains didn't exist before she was kidnapped? "Well—it's my quirk, what else am I supposed to do? Just—just not _use_ it?"

"Not like this," Lao answers lowly. "You're too young to understand. That quirk—all it does is put you in danger. Do you know you sustained eighteen different micro-fractures in your hands? We're lucky you didn't damage any nerve endings. You are a Beifong. You are my _heir_. You will not do anything like this ever again—you will not go gallivanting off to become a _hero_ like that despicable man, Endeavor."

Toph jolts her in her seat. "I—I never said I wanted to be a hero," she argues, but it's useless. They _know_. That's what this is about.

Her father is tense, and she can sense his hand moving sharply through the air as he speaks. "Toph, you will _never_ be a hero if I have anything to say about it! That Yoarashi boy has been filling your head with _lies_, and I'm not going to let it continue. He's not good for you, Toph."

"You—you can't _stop_ me," Toph exclaims, rising to her feet. "Twink—Inasa's never lied to me, he's seen what I can do and he thinks I can be a hero—!"

Lao's hands slam on the table. "_He. Is. Lying_."

"You're the liar!" Toph screams. "You think I can't tell when you're unhappy with me?! You think I don't know why you haven't enrolled me in school or let me outside the grounds? You don't care about what I want or need, you just wish your _cripple daughter_ was _gone!_ Problem solved! The Beifongs _don't have a daughter!_" She jerks away from the table, and her chair clatters to the floor loudly. She turns away.

"Don't you walk away from me, young lady!" Lao barks, and Toph freezes. "Get back here right now!"

She doesn't move.

Lao stays seated, but she can sense the tension in his body by the stiff movements of his arms, the strain in his voice. "If you cannot do as you're told, I have different ways of making you obey, _daughter_."

* * *

Endeavor stares at the files in his hand for a moment longer before they warp and crumble in his fist, and he tosses them aside. Nothing. There is nothing on the Beifongs. He can't get anyone to talk. Even the detectives he's supposedly working with aren't helping. It's so obvious, even if no one would dare utter the words.

The Beifongs are _protected_. By who, by what, he can't figure out. They still haven't filled out the quirk registration forms, and if they don't do it within the next two weeks at least Endeavor will have reason to formally request an inquiry into the family.

But until then, he's stuck with the one crumb of evidence that'll let him keep the Beifongs on his radar: Toph Beifong's police interview.

According to Toph Beifong, the Elementals mentioned working with _Amon's Vision_. She mentioned the phrase casually, and clearly had no idea what it was—a powerful cult that was broken up several years ago—but it meant the kidnapping case wasn't closed while he investigated her claim about the cult.

What it meant for the Beifongs though, is that Endeavor still had an incredibly valid reason for keeping tabs on their daughter. Because of her enhanced hearing, she's the only one that even heard the cult name. And even with that, he's getting a hell of a lot of pushback from the police force about his inquires into her family.

It's absurd how much pull those Beifongs have—no detective will touch the case. Saitama's chief of police has already visited him "just to check in" and blatantly advised against any further investigation.

There's no doubt in his mind that the Beifongs are corrupt. It's just a matter of _how_ corrupt, and how that ties into their treatment of their daughter, if at all. Hell, their daughter's probably fine! She's strong. She's got a great quirk, and she seems resilient enough to withstand whatever nonsense her parents tossed her way. He should focus on the potential for corruption in Lao Beifong's businesses in Japan and China.

Either way, he's stuck. On his own he can't find anything on the Beifongs that even _hints_ towards criminal activity, and using the resources at his disposal would require a formal request for information—something he's been denied _t__wice_ already.

A sinister, furious part of Enji bets that if All Might asked about the Beifongs, no one would even bat an eye.

For now, he'll just have to focus on the kidnapping. Even if the villains they detained on-site weren't talking and haven't confessed to any ties to Amon's Vision. Fucking _hell._

"Give it a rest, Endeavor," one the detectives leans against the far side of his desk. She peers over the files in his hands slyly, and Endeavor has to stop himself from moving them out of her sight. "I know it still bugs you that they nabbed your son from right under your nose, but c'mon," she says lazily, "It's _over_. The kids are all safe."

_Are they? All of them?_ The fact that Enji can't answer that is reason enough to keep digging.

"You've read the transcripts from the interrogations, haven't you?" Endeavor replies evenly, his eyes sliding over to the name stitched over her chest.

"Tch, yeah I have," the detective rolls her dark eyes. "Bunch of idiots, they're all still pissed they got caught so quick."

"You think any of those idiots are clever or powerful enough to pull off a mass kidnapping like this, Detective Ito?" he asks her plainly. "Because even if they were stopped early on, it still takes a lot of resources and coordination to move so quickly."

The woman frowns slightly, but just rolls her eyes again and scoffs. "I suppose that's why you're called _Endeavor_, eh?" She pushes off from the desk, sipping from a styrofoam cup of coffee. Enji is half-certain it's _his _coffee, actually, but he sure as hell doesn't want it back now. "You just have to keep going, don't you?" She shakes her head as she leaves, patting his shoulder consolingly.

Endeavor frowns at the files once more. Out of the three detectives he's in contact with, Detective Ito seems the least problematic, but she's certainly just as skeptical as the rest of them. He doesn't blame them. So far there hasn't been any further evidence of a link to that old cult. And as for the Beifong angle, none of the detectives spoke to the girl the way he had. They were only there to watch Lao Beifong say a few words to a doctor, make a phone call, and then turn his back on the Number Two Hero.

The crumpled files, a series of totally normal financial reports from one of Beifong's mining sites, feel heavy in his hands. There's no _proof_. There's just a blind little girl and her absolute scumbag of a father. Was this even about Toph anymore? Or was it a question of who's ego was bigger: his or Lao Beifong's?

He'll just have to keep working to find out.

* * *

Her mother's heart rate jumps, and Toph hears the swish of fabric as Poppy leans over to touch her husband's arm. Her voice is a balm, a satin ribbon twisting in the air. "Lao, please. She's only seven."

"Like _what?_" Toph demands of her father, lifting her chin in a blatant challenge. "I'd love to see you try to stop me."

"Toph, Lao, stop this," Poppy cries, rising to her feet as well. She clutches her husband's shoulder, heart fluttering. "My love, there is a better way," her voice lowers to a gentle, controlled whisper. "I _have_ a better way. Let me handle this. Please sit down, Toph, I know we can work out an agreement."

Toph's heart is pounding, a sharp contrast to the gentle, fluttery nervousness of her mother. Toph doesn't want to work out an _agreement_. She wants to see Inasa and Shouto, she wants to fight and play and run without feeling like she's doing something wrong.

Yelling at her parents doesn't make Toph feel good. She just wants them to understand. _And isn't that the point of an agreement?_ she thinks. Slowly, Toph returns to her seat, her lips pressed into a hard line. "...Okay, mother."

Poppy sits back down, her hand slipping off of Lao. "I think we need to start by explaining some things to you, dear." Lao grows tense at her side, and Poppy laces their fingers together once more. "I'm worried about how this whole event might be affecting you, Toph. And I know you don't want to tell us when you're afraid or scared."

Toph bites down hard on the urge to declare that she was never afraid during her kidnapping.

Her mother sighs. "That _hero_ seemed concerned for you too. I think a good way to prove to us _and_ to him that you're recuperating well is to hire a quirk therapist to update your records. Someone you can talk to freely about your quirk, a-and your experience." Poppy's heart is fluttering again in worry. "We just want you to be safe."

A therapist, not a quirk doctor? Toph isn't sure what the difference is. If she's updating her records, that's what Endeavor wanted her to do anyway, right? That's the part that's actually supposed to help her…

"You won't... make me _stop_ using my quirk?" Toph asks to be sure.

"Goodness, I don't see how we could," Poppy replies easily, giving a short laugh. "But we want you to be more careful about it. I do agree with your father about that Yoarashi boy—"

"He's my friend," Toph snaps, clutching the edge of the table. "Don't tell me he's lying to me!"

Poppy is silent. Toph can feel the tension return to the air, and grimaces.

"I—I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled." Even though all she wants to do is scream.

Her mother takes a deep breath and continues. "I think he's made you unruly. But I also think you must be lonely without anyone your age here," Poppy says tenderly. "That's why we're moving to a new prefecture, somewhere safer—" Toph sucks in a sharp breath "—and you'll be enrolled in school next year."

The pang in her chest lessens, if only from bewilderment. "..._School?_"

That had never been an option before.

Her mother's earrings jingle as she nods, a familiar melody of thin golden hoops. "I told you, my lotus. We can compromise."

Toph exhales a long, slow breath. "But you won't let me say goodbye, will you?" She guesses, but the answer is obvious. It's why, just minutes before Toph knew her parents would enter the hospital ward, she hugged Twinkletoes so hard that neither of them could breath for a moment, and why she didn't have an answer for him when he teased her about wanting mushy hugs after all.

"He's not worth your time, my dear," her mother answers gently, in a voice so syrupy Toph wants to barf. "If anything, playing with that boy is what put you in danger in the first place."

"But we were—"

"—He's the reason you thought _fighting villains_ was the right thing to do," her mother continues. "Wasn't he?"

"But _mother_, Inasa was just—"

"_Toph!_" She cries, her voice wavering delicately. "Please, my dear. You were the only two children to be hurt today, and the fault lies with that boy. I will not hear anymore about it. Is that clear, my love?"

_"Toph, I can't wait till we're heroes!" Inasa cries, flopping onto the hard ground. "We're gonna be so cool together, we'll be unstoppable! The greatest heroes!"_

_"Together?" Toph wonders. "Like hero partners? Partners are rare, aren't they? And they don't last as long," she points out. She's been trying to learn more about heroes ever since meeting Twinkletoes._

_"Well, yeah, but they're not us! I mean, you're crazy strong anyways, you could go solo too. And so could I. But…"_

_"But?"_

_"But aren't we stronger together? I think we are. Plus, you know if we're rivals in school, I'll know your moves as well as you'll know mine!"_

_Toph snorts. She'll always know his moves better than the other way around. But instead of telling him this, she reaches out and punches his shoulder._

_"Ouch!" Inasa complains, still cheerful._

_"I think we'll have to be keep being rivals before we're hero partners," Toph decides. "How else will I know if you're even worth partnering with? Ask me again once we're pros, eh?"_

_Inasa laughs. "Ugh! Fine! We'll keep bein' rivals for now! But—we're still friends, right?" He checks._

_Toph doesn't care if it's a contradiction. "We're always gonna be friends, Inasa."_

"Toph?" Her mother calls her name again. "You're not going to cause anymore trouble over this, are you? You will not speak of that boy. You will not speak of becoming a _hero_."

Her fingers slowly curl into tight fists beneath the table, out of her parents' sight.

_We'll meet again, Twinkles, _she vows.

"I won't," Toph replies resolutely.

_When we're the greatest heroes._

Toph doesn't have to _talk_ about heroes to become one. She just has to _do it_.

* * *

Inasa doesn't understand. After Toph stops showing up at their secret meeting place—well, it makes sense, this is where they got kidnapped—he doesn't know what to do. His parents don't know her parents. The Beifong family is super rich and impossible to contact. But he's friends with their daughter, so surely they won't mind if he visits her? Even just seeing her face would be enough, it's been weeks since the Elementals incident and Toph can't _still_ be grounded. He just had to do more chores for a week and then he was off the hook.

But when he tracks down the Beifongs' address—really, just the biggest mansion in the prefecture—there's nothing. No one even answers the doorbell at the gate.

He waits a few more days before deciding he _has_ to check it out himself—and maybe it's not very heroic to trespass, but if the Beifongs caught him, Toph would totally vouch for him anyway—so he flies up over the walls and catches himself on a windowsill late at night. He even waited until the full moon so he wouldn't have to bring a flashlight.

Inside the house, all the furniture is covered up with white sheets. He can't see any signs of Toph. It's just a cold, immaculate palace. Or a mausoleum.

Inasa has a sinking feeling in his gut.

_"Why can't we hang out at each other's' houses?" Inasa asks her, splitting his bento with the tiny girl._

_"My parents are very protective," Toph sighs, rolling her sightless eyes. I'm not supposed to play like this. If they knew about you, I'd never see you again."_

Well jeez, he didn't think she was being _serious_ back then. And she did give him a pretty passionate hug back at the hospital. But—it was okay. He would find her. After all, the Beifongs were super rich, and he was bound to hear about them sooner or later. His moms tended to give him a lot of freedom even though he only just turned seven, so he could probably ride the train to Toph's new house once the Beifongs made the news again.

Easy, right?


	6. Book I: Thunder - The Secret

_QUICK NOTE ABOUT AGES: I describe Shouto, Inasa and Toph as seven year olds, but apparently Shouto's birthday is in January—therefore he's actually only six throughout the whole kidnapping thing, and it's only been about nine months since he got the scar. Toph is actually older than both of the boys, with her birthday just after the start of the school year in April._

_I like to keep track of these sort of things, but only after totally ignoring them in my own writing. Endeavor is 37 if anyone was wondering. Poppy is 35, Lao is 40._

* * *

A woman drums her fingers against the steering wheel of her car, adding to the percussion beat of rain against her sunroof. She twists the rearview mirror to get a better look at her hair as she takes out her hair ties. It's raining a lot today, and it's ruined the braided bun she usually puts her hair up with. It doesn't matter all the much, she's not that vain, but too much moisture in the air makes her feel gross. Damp, cold days are just inconvenient, you know?

She also forgot an umbrella, so there's that.

Her eyes fall to the picture balanced on her dash, and she smiles a little despite her irritation. She catches movement out the corner of her eye and instinctively she reaches for the picture as the passenger-side door opens abruptly. She leaves the picture face-down as a rain-drenched Endeavor shoves his way into her car, muttering viciously about one thing or another and completely ignoring her.

She raises an eyebrow as the car begins to steam up from his facial… fire-mask thing.

"Hey, no flames inside my car, Mr. Hero," she warns him, already feeling sweaty despite the chilled air he's let in. "Come on, Endeavor, I'm serious."

"What, Ito?!" He barks, clearly not listening. He's too busy shoving the seat all the way back so his legs can fit in her sedan. "This car is awful."

"The flames," Detective Ito says again urgently. "Turn it off! You're not even in costume!" And he isn't, for once, instead wearing an overcoat and a regular business suit beneath it. She's never seen him out of his flaming pajamas before. Honestly, this whole case has been such a mind fuck for Ito.

He just scowls, the flames dissipating quickly.

Ito looks away when he's done bitching, pressing a button to crack the windows open. She fiddles with the settings of her windshield wipers too. "So, Endeavor—" She turns, noticing that he's already looking at her with an odd, not-angry expression "What?" She asks instead, and he quickly looks away, having been caught staring.

"Nothing," Endeavor mutters.

Well, she wouldn't be much of a detective if she didn't know when to push her luck. "What's with the face?" It seems important, he looked pensive. "Endeavor?"He has his arms crossed, so she prods his hand.

"It's not—" His gaze is still focused on the dusty glove box in front of him. "It's nothing. Your hair just looks a lot like my wife's right now." He bristles like an angry cat at his own words. "It's none of your damn business, Ito."

"Oh. Sorry I asked," she says slowly, bewildered by his train of thought. She did push, though, so this is what she gets. "You're a little uptight today, I was hoping you taking a day off meant you'd relax a little." she ventures carefully. After ten days of Endeavor bursting into the precinct to bitch about the Elementals, it was odd to get a phone call from his office telling them not to expect the Flame Hero. "Sure you don't need another sick day?"

"Just drive, Detective Ito," he replies coldly, only looking at her from the corner of his eye. "I'm not sick."

She hums, turning down the heat and holding out her phone to the hero. "Put the address in my phone, will ya?"

Thankfully he takes the phone without question, inputting the coordinates for the prison. "It's quite far. Are you sure you're up for the drive?"

"Well, I'm not letting you drive my car," she answers bluntly. In fact, she'd rather he take a damn taxi to their destination, but technically they need her badge and the approval forms and a few other forms of ID just to get through the front gate. Oh, the joys of bureaucracy. "Make it quick in there, alright? I have an appointment this afternoon," she warns him.

"Another one? You should just take a sick day," he sneers. It would be funny if he actually meant it as a joke, not an insult.

"If only I could afford it," she answers anyway, "I'm not exactly swimming in cash, if you couldn't tell."

"I'm aware," Endeavor sticks her phone back onto the little stand and the directions light up the screen as she pulls out of the parking lot of the precinct. "Your shitty car made that obvious enough."

_Shitty car? Really?_ Ito glares at the road, but her voice stays sickly sweet as she replies, "You'd be much closer to becoming the Number One Hero if you weren't such a shitstain."

She regrets it as soon as the words leave her mouth. He doesn't answer. She's going to get demoted for this. Ito risks a glance his way—"Oh my god, you look _awful_, I'm actually a little sorry now."

He looks ready to strangle her, but he also looks incredibly stunned (and maybe a little hurt, ha!). "For Kami's sake," he growls, turning away. "If you're so against working with me, why'd you volunteer for this?"

She drums her fingers on the steering wheel again, more nervous than before. "It was either me or Kanto, we played rock-paper-scissors for it." She let Kanto win. She didn't like Endeavor much, but Kanto always sweats a lot around Endeavor and then stinks up the whole office.

"Of course you fucking did," Endeavor scowls, sinking heavily in his seat. "It's not like this is important or anything."

"It really isn't," Ito insists, like she has been for the past week and a half of working with this insufferable asshole. "Your source is wrong. Cults like Amon's Vision rely on a charismatic leader, and no one's better than Tarrlok. Taking him down brought down the whole thing, it's as simple as that."

"AV was all about replacing the Avatar, and so were the Elementals. There's a clear similarity in their thinking—"

"You know what Amon's _actual_ vision was, in the legends?" She cuts him off impatiently. "He wanted to take away all bending abilities. It was a power only granted to the Avatar—so yes, technically speaking, Amon was trying to become as powerful as him. That's the part that AV's following focused on. But what Amon wanted most of all was _equality_ through the erasure of quirks. Balance between the weak and powerful. That was Tarrlok's ultimate goal. So why would he be interested frankenstein-ing an Avatar from those kids? He wouldn't grant that ability to anyone but _himself_."

Endeavor gives her a suspicious look. "Is there a reason you're bringing all this up right _now?_ You didn't say a word about the Avatar myths while I was actively researching them."

Ito huffs. "Why give you all the answers, huh? You're dead-set on seeing this through either way."

"If you had _any_ sense of _duty_, so would you," he snaps, making her flinch. "If you don't have any real questions about my work than you're free to stay quiet the rest of this trip."

She stares down the road, caught a little off-guard by the anger in his tone. Ito knew he had a quick temper, she expected his rage, but to be lectured? _Chastised_ by the Number Two Hero? It's a strange feeling.

After a moment she composes herself. "Um. So, you got a game plan for interrogating our guy?"

"I _did_," Endeavor replies irritably, shifting in his seat. "But Tarrlok's a skilled waterbender, and with all this damn rain…"

"You don't think he'll try anything, do you?" She asks in alarm. "I mean, you're the Flame Hero. And he's got a dozen guns pointed at him at all times."

"He's serving a life sentence with no chance for parole," Endeavor grumbles. "He's got nothing to lose and nothing to gain from this, and the rain makes him stronger."

"Then why are we even going to meet him?" She complains, deflating a little. "And are you even going to meet him? You're soaking wet, he could… _oh_. Right." She realizes her mistake halfway through her thought when Endeavor gives her a disparaging look. "Hey. For half a second I was _actually_ concerned for your safety," Ito says defensively.

"You can stay in the car, Detective," says Endeavor dryly. "I just needed you for the papers."

"Good to know I'm still useful," Ito remarks, unable to hold it in.

The Flame Hero just sighs, not rising to the taunt.

After a moment he takes out more files from the briefcase shoved between his feet. He begins reading, and Ito takes the hint, rude as it is, to let the conversation die away. For one of the most successful heroes in the country, Endeavor sure is unsociable. It makes her life so difficult.

Ito isn't unsociable. The silence is weird. She flicks on the radio to fill the void, picking some obnoxious boy band because, yeah, she's petty. Her car is fine. She can hear Endeavor swear under his breath.

Yep. Worth it.

* * *

It take a few weeks of hero-chasing before Inasa comes across a fight dangerous enough to warrant the Number Two Hero's help. After being unable to find the Beifongs again he did try camping outside of Endeavor's office, but the man had to have some kind of secret entrance or something, because Inasa never saw him enter or exit! This is why he needs Toph around, she would've figured it out way quicker than him.

Man, he misses Toph a _lot_. He still practices his quirk in the forest, and he's definitely improving, but nothing beats training with Toph. She's a great teacher on top of being a great fighter…

Anyway, that's why he's sprinting down the street, towards the huge plumes of smoke a few blocks away. He can't hear any more explosions so Endeavor probably beat that acid villain already, so he has to be quick. The closer he gets to the scene, the more people there are, crowding the streets either in a panic or as an audience.

Inasa shoves past elbows and flailing arms, grateful that he's big enough not to get pushed around too much. In his pocket he has a photo. After all the craziness with the Elementals, his parents finally decided it was time to get Inasa a phone. Before that, though, he only took a few blurry pictures with on with his mom's phone. It didn't help that Toph had zero interest in taking pictures… but nonetheless, he had ONE usable photo. So he printed it out for reference. A lot people had no idea that the Beifong family even had an heir, and Inasa wanted to make sure Endeavor knew who he was talking about.

And—there he is! "Endeavor!" Inasa shouts, leaping ahead of the crowds. "ENDEAVOR! WAIT!"

He sprints forward, buoyed by a gust of accidental wind, and the hero stops—the wind made his flames kind of flare up, _whoops_—

"What the hell are you doing?" Endeavor snaps, quickly pulling the flames down.

"Sorry!" Inasa exclaims, tugging the photo out. "But I needed—" The paper is knocked out of his hand so abruptly that Inasa stumbles back in alarm. "_Hey!_"

"Get out of my way, kid. I don't have time for autographs." Endeavor eyes him disapprovingly. Suddenly it seems to click, and his eyes narrow. "_Yoarashi_, isn't it?"

Inasa nods vigorously. "It's me again! I don't need an autograph—"

"This is an _active crime scene_, get _out_ of here—"

"—Do you remember Toph?" Inasa steamrolls on desperately, "I haven't seen her lately, have you?"

The hero goes rigid, and then his expression goes from disapproving to downright cold, "I said _get out of my way._"

There's nothing but frigid rage in his eyes, and for once in his life, Inasa is honestly _scared_. He steps back, tripping over rubble. He pulls his eyes away, scrambling to his feet and retreating from the scene in a haze.

He doesn't realize that his picture's gone until that night at home. But when he goes up to his mom to ask for another one, she gives him an apologetic look and tell him she must've deleted the picture when making room on her smartphone.

"I'm sorry baby, but why don't you just take another one? Who was this girl again?"

"_Toph_," Inasa explains, for what feels like the hundredth time. His mother only gives him a mildly interested look. "She has an earth quirk? She was with me during the kidnapping, mom."

"Oh, that must've been awful," his mom says sympathetically. "I'm so glad you came home safe, you know that?"

"Yeah," Inasa frowns, because the kidnapping _wasn't_ awful because Toph saved them. Why was that always the part Mom forgot? "But I haven't seen Toph since then. I don't know what happened to her, and Endeavor doesn't care either!"

"You met Endeavor again?" She asks in surprise. "Oh my, did you get an autograph? I know he's one of your favorite heroes."

Inasa throws up his hands in frustration. "I'm going to bed!" He declares angrily, stomping up the stairs.

"Inasa? Inasa, it's six o'clock, we haven't had dinner yet!"

Without a word, Inasa pulls hard on the air around himself, whipping the bedroom door closed with a SLAM. Then he falls face-first onto his bed and screams into his pillow until tears trickle down his face.

Toph is _gone_. Endeavor doesn't care at all about them. And it seems like his parents don't care either, with the way they just brush off his concerns all the time! Inasa isn't being unreasonable! What if something bad happened to Toph?

_Or,_ thinks the cynical part of his mind, _What if she just doesn't want to be friends with me anymore?_ She used to sneak out all the time to find me, she's so skilled, if she wanted to keep hanging out she would've done it.

But her parents are overprotective. So there's also a good chance that she's just being super sheltered by them now. The Beifongs are so rich, they could probably afford a cloaking device to hide away from the world. No wonder Inasa couldn't find them, he's not as smart or as strong as a pro hero or anything. _Thanks a lot, Endeavor._

Inasa bites down on his pillow viciously. Either way, Toph is gone. And there's only one thing for him to do.

Become a hero. There's only one path in life for someone as hot-blooded and good-hearted as Toph Beifong. If they're both still reaching for the same goal, they're bound to meet again.

_And if you're not there when I become a hero_, Inasa promises, _then at least I'll be good enough to save you._

* * *

Toph isn't too crazy about school. Her parents enroll her in an elite elementary school that is so well-protected, many famous politicians, businessmen, and heroes send their children there. So there's a lot interesting people all around her, and while she's a little unpopular because of her blindness, the school is accommodating and no one's going to bother a Beifong.

She goes through an entire year of school with no problems.

She talks to classmates, she does assignments, she even asks questions once in a while. Her therapist asks if she's making any friends, and Toph shrugs, honestly uninterested in becoming close friends with any of the girls she talks to in class. If her parents think it's a problem, they haven't mentioned it. They're back to basically ignoring her existence now that she's "settled down."

The girls in her class are kind of petty. Really, who cares if Best Jeanist has the most luxurious hair ever? What's the point in knowing whether or not Miho-chan has a crush on Nishiya? Still, Toph endures their gossip. It's nothing to her.

Her classmates begin to shuffle to their feet, indicating the end of the lunch period. Toph follows suit, giving a smile to the girl on her left offering to straighten her jacket out.

After classes end, Toph is driven home. Her father's been working in Singapore for the last month, and her mother is visiting a factory in Hokkaido, but she still has a therapy session with Ms. Aiko, and the woman arrives at the Beifong home at four o'clock sharp.

Ms. Aiko is a short woman with a sturdy frame and a generous figure. She wears soft sweaters that make no noise and matches them with clunky combat boots for some reason. Directly after the Elementals debacle, Toph had to meet with Aiko twice a week and explain all about her quirk, her friend Twinkletoes, and what happened during the kidnapping. After about a month they switched to weekly, and then every-other-week sessions.

"Hello, Toph," she says kindly.

"Hello Ms. Aiko," Toph replies plainly, flopping onto a leather couch. They use one of the many sitting rooms in the Beifong home for their talks.

"So, how do you feel now that your first year of school is ending?" Aiko leans her chin into one hand, slouching a little in the armchair next to Toph.

"I'll be a little bored without classes," Toph answers.

"Oh really?" Aiko says, not too convinced by her tone. "You don't have anything to fill up all that free time?"

Toph smiles sweetly. "Well, Mother thinks I ought to learn how to play the tsungi horn. I like music, but I'm not sure I want to carry a huge tube of brass around me. I'll look like a balloon."

"Toph," Aiko giggles at the thought, tapping her hand to chide her. "Be honest with me. You're not still training to be a hero, right?"

"Nope."

"And you're not going to associate with any students looking to become heroes?"

"No," Toph says again. Aiko's hand on her wrist feels cool and smooth. "All the kids of heroes in my school are pretty lame anyway, y'know. They think they're better than everyone because they have strong quirks."

"You have a pretty strong quirk too," Aiko murmurs. "But you're not going to do anything dangerous with it, right?"

"No, I—" Toph catches herself. "My quirk isn't _strong_. I can't do anything that could hurt me."

"Good," Aiko says in relief, letting her hand slip away. "You're doing so well, Toph. I'm not sure how much longer we need these sessions, to be honest."

Toph smiles sweetly at Ms. Aiko, the same smile she presents every day.

* * *

When Endeavor finally returns to the car, all the paperwork in his hands from the prison's records, his mind is racing.

Tarrlok is dead according all the reports, his body cremated just a year ago. But the man in the last recorded images of him doesn't look anything like the man they captured. He slams the car door shut and tosses the papers on the dash. "_Drive_," he tells Detective Ito, who's tapping away on her smartphone. "I need to get back to my offices."

"Back to your offices?" Ito puts the car in reverse to pull out of the parking lot. "You're looking pretty fired up, don't go smoking up my car again," Ito warns him. "It's stuffy enough as it is."

Oh. He has the flames on. Enji quickly shuts them off. "Tarrlok was supposedly killed a year ago," explains, carefully placing the files into a leather briefcase.

"So all that _crap_ about AV's involvement really is just _crap?_" Ito surmises easily, her eyes fixed on the road. She makes a noise of annoyance and cranks up her windshield wipers as the rain really begins to come down.

"Not at all," Endeavor shakes his head. "I saw the footage of the riot that killed him. The man in the video _wasn't_ the man we captured—"

_"What?!"_

"—He's been out of prison for over a year and nobody's said a _thing!_" Of course the prison claimed to have sent the proper reports out and it must've 'gotten lost in transit'. It was _bullshit_. This whole case was a _shit show._

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ito exclaims, the car swerving a little in alarm. _"Out of prison?!"_

"For _fuck's sake_ woman, don't you know how to drive?" Enji growls, clutching one of the handles attaches to the car's roof.

"Fuck you," she answers promptly. "You just dropped a bomb on me! What do you _mean_, Tarrlok's been out for a year? How do you know it isn't him in the video?"

"He's too short," Enji says impatiently. "His build is all wrong. He has the hair and the coloring, but that's all. If _anyone_ in that prison cared at all, they would've noticed the swap straight away." He scowls. "I can't trust _any_ of those officers. That's why I need to get back to my offices, alert the Hero Association, see who else I can put on this case."

"Okay, so now you're accusing the prison of corruption too?" Ito asks annoyedly, shooting him a cold look. The car swerves a little _again_.

"Pull over," Enji demands. The rain's gotten worse. "Pull _over_, Ito, before you crash your damn car." Even if it would be an improvement for the vehicle...

The detective lets out a noise of frustration, but does as she's told, and the car jerks to a stop.

She eyes him angrily, but doesn't even comment about having to pull over. "First it's the _Beifongs_, then it's my _precinct_, and now it's a _prison_ twenty miles away? At some point you're gonna have to trust _someone_ other than yourself and the two and half sidekicks you deem _tolerable_," she sneers.

Endeavor rolls his eyes. Ito's a decent officer, and out of the whole precinct, she's been the least reluctant to help him. "I tolerate _you_, don't I? Even though you've been nothing but a drag on this investigation, _Detective_."

Ito pauses, blinking at him in surprise. "So you _do_ trust me?" she asks haltingly, brow furrowed.

He nods impatiently. "Isn't that obvious? Why else would I be telling you all this?"

"_Oh_." She hums in consideration. "I—I appreciate that, you know." Endeavor's eyes slide over to look through the blurry windshield of the car, waiting for the emotional detective to calm down and start driving again. He feels something brush against the side of his hand and suddenly his vision goes foggy, like the whole world is as hazy as the rain-washed windows. There is a voice, molten hot in his mind. "_... I'm not sure that you should._"

_Be still,_ the voice says. He can't move. He can barely _think_. Thoughts move sluggishly through his head, no matter what he tries. It's the physical contact he knows it already. He could break this fog if he could move his hand away from hers.

Enji focuses everything on the limb. _Move_, he wills it desperately, seeing her pale blue hair out of the corner of his eye, ignite, _ignite_, fire—his finger twitches—_bURN, BURN HER, BURN HER, MOVE—_

But then her free hand reaches for his chin, and the second point of contact makes his muscles go slack once more. Enji sinks further into a fog.

"You almost _had_ me there, hot shot," she teases, her tone light and breathy. So benign, so demure like Rei used to be. Why did he tell her about _Rei_, anyway?

Ito turns his head towards her face until he's forced to look directly into her violet eyes, and her voice drips like honey as her quirk activates again. "There's a few things we need to discuss, Endeavor. First of all, _the Beifongs don't have a daughter._"

* * *

_A/N: Aaaand that's Book One! Don't you love a good cliffhanger? If you have questions, drop a review – I like replying to comments!_


	7. Book 2: Lightning - The Blind Bandit

_PRESENT DAY_

School is boring. Toph starts third grade with half as much enthusiasm as the year before it. She's been moved into Class 3-A at her elementary school, and it's full of even more nerds and snobby rich kids than last year's class.

"Beifong-san!" An eager boy zips up to her desk, practically vibrating with enthusiasm. He's tall, and his footsteps are heavy but swift. "Sensei said one of us should look after you, and I volunteered!"

Toph continues what she's doing, methodically setting up her braille reader and notes.

"Um," he continues hesitantly, "It's nice to meet you, by the way, I know you weren't in this class last year, so maybe I could—"

Toph knows where this is heading, and scowls. "I don't need help," she replies shortly, folding her arms.

"Oh? But Saito-sensei said—!"

"Well, Saito didn't ask _me_, did she?" Toph frowns, drumming her fingers impatiently. "If I needed help, I'd ask. I got by last year and I'll do it again now."

The boy is quiet, shifting from foot to foot and still, sort of, vibrating. "Are you certain, Beifong-san? I think Saito-sensei was quite clear when she said…"

Jeez, what a stick in the mud. He can't even drop the honorific. Toph rolls her eyes. "I'm _fine_. Go help someone else. I _don't_ need a _babysitter_."

He jerks back a little at her tone, intimidated, and Toph feels rather satisfied. "But…" he goes to argue further, but something about the expression on Toph's face seems to give him pause. "Okay. If you insist." After another moment of hovering by her desk he slinks off, clomping away with heavy steps that somehow, impossibly, remind her of Twinkletoes. Maybe it's the enthusiasm.

And maybe if Toph wasn't being pampered and babied and controlled by her parents every moment, she would have let him help. She could tell by the way he acted that he wasn't that snobby or anything, and was probably only trying to make a friend. Like Twinkletoes and his nosy questions...

But Toph is not in school to make friends. School is just another thing her parents are making her endure, and Toph can't afford to give into what they want. She'll sit quietly, she'll do her homework, and that is it.

The bell rings, and class starts just as the tall boy with vibrating feet (what kind of quirk made someone feel like that, anyway?) sits at his desk in the back. Slowly, Toph sinks into her own seat, only now realizing how tense she'd been talking to that Iida kid. But she won't be friends with someone from a hero family. She won't be friends with anyone here.

Toph pulls herself away from the dull thoughts, knowing it's no good. She touches her wrist, reading the time to herself. Only five more hours until she's out. Her parents are both home for now, but it's been nearly two years since the Incident and Toph doesn't have any more therapy sessions, so she's basically free once she gets through class.

And best of all, it's a Tuesday.

_PAST_

"Mom! Mom! Are you still home?!" A young voice cries out. Umeko hears the pitter-patter of tiny feet and smiles as she finishes changing into her office clothes, discreetly tugging the detective badge of '_Ito_' out of sight.

"Yes?" she greets her son in the hallway outside the bedroom, and raises her eyebrows at the sight before her. "Oh, sweetheart…"

Her son regards her with wide, hopeful eyes. He's holding a calico cat against his chest. "Dad says I need your permission before we can keep her. So…?"

Umeko sighs, crouching in front of him. _He's gotten taller,_ she thinks fondly. "Where did you find her?"

At this point his eyes go even wider. "She was left out in the rain, Mom! I've been visiting her all week, but her box was falling apart with her in it! Please? She needs a home."

She sighs again, unable to resist her son's pleading indigo eyes. "Alright. I have to get to work, but when I get back tonight we need to go over some house rules and figure out what to buy for her."

"Dad can tell me," he says eagerly. Then his expression falters. "I mean—I'm just not sure how late you'll get back, yesterday you didn't come home until after dinner, and now you have to work on the _weekends_—"

"It's just for this week, the case I'm on," Umeko explains quickly, brow furrowing. She picks at the edge of her jacket, where the pale blue fabric is pilling. "I'm sorry, baby, I know I'm not around enough. It's just that—"

"Your job is important, and you have to work so much so you can support us," he finishes glumly. He fidgets with the shivering cat in his arms. "Maybe she should go to the shelter instead. If it's gonna cost more to take care of her—"

"No," Umeko says firmly, holding his shoulders. "No, we're keeping her. She needs a home, right? I won't always be this busy, it's just this case that's getting to me." Umeko rubs her temple as she speaks. She could really do with a nap right now.

Her son doesn't look convinced. "You look as tired as Dad," he notes with a frown.

"_You_ look as tired as Dad," Umeko teases back, pinching his cheek quickly. "Does your cat have a name yet?"

He shakes his head. "I haven't decided. What do you think?"

Umeko shrugs, quickly glancing at her watch. "We'll think of something good," she promises, kissing his forehead quickly. "I have to go, but think of a few names while I'm gone, okay?" She calls over her shoulder as she steps into the mudroom, pulling on her trusty boots. The ground was still soft from the morning rain, but maybe the skies will have cleared up by now.

"Don't you need an umbrella?" The boy calls to her, but Umeko waves him off.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I'm sure it won't rain that much."

* * *

In the visitor's lot of Shizuoka Max Prison, Umeko drums her fingers on the steering wheel of her car. Every few minutes her eyes dart over to her phone, still set in a case against her dashboard for when she used the GPS for directions.

Endeavor's going to be come back to the car in a few minutes, with evidence and reports that, if put into public record, would create all sorts of chaos. Her task is to keep the peace. She's done it a thousand times, but this… this is different. She's never had to wipe a hero before. And never someone so strong.

It dawns on Umeko with a sickening twist in her gut that she doesn't want to do this. And she doesn't have a choice.

Her phone lights up with a text message. Her appointment for this evening at the Beifongs' mansion. She doesn't know how those rich assholes are involved with all this, but they're supposedly on her side and she has to help them. Too bad they're rich assholes demanding her to move her appointment from 4 o'clock to 6. Great, she's going to miss dinner again…

Endeavor's exiting the building now, she can see his large form past the three chain-link fences between the car and the front doors. It's a long walk, and with the angle of his umbrella against the rain, he can't see her at all.

Umeko takes a deep breath, and then reaches for her purse for a small black container, roughly the size of a pencil case, but with a three-digit code on the side. She'd never want her kid to get into this.

She puts in the combination and opens it, pulling out a syringe and an ampoule of dark liquid. She measures out the dosage and rolls her sleeve. She doesn't do this sort of thing, certainly not Trigger, and yet here she is. The version she's been given is supposed to be diluted, and Umeko's no addict, but the thought of having to put this shit in her body, to overuse her quirk like this… _God, and if it doesn't work…_

Taking a deep breath, Umeko reminds herself why she's doing it all. That there's a damn good reason for it, and it goes beyond herself and the few people around her. She doesn't have a choice right now, but she gave away that willingly. For the cause.

As Umeko pushes the needle past her skin and depresses the plunger, she knows that something good will come from this.

_PRESENT_

At lunch, Toph lets the cafeteria staff pick out a lunch for her. She usually has a bento from home, but her mother is still looking for a new maid. "You're too skinny, my goodness!" One of the ladies tuts.

Toph offers a confused smile. "I always eat everything, I swear," she tells her.

"I believe it, sweetie, you must have a fast metabolism!" The woman sighs, patting her own belly. "If only I could eat as much as I want without burstin' out of my dress, maybe I'd get a second date! But enough about me, do you want the udon or the soba?"

"Soba, please," Toph bites her lip, wondering if it'd be odd to reassure the lunch lady about her weight. She's not actually fat or anything, but her mutation quirk gives her thicker muscles to account for her reptilian legs and tail. "Do people really care that much about the way you look?"

The woman pauses, and then continues to carefully pour out the noodles. "Oh, but you don't have anything to worry about, ne?" She says dismissively, "You're just like a _doll_, and sweet as anything! Before you know it you'll have all the boys trying to confess to you."

Toph raises a skeptical eyebrow, having never thought of herself as _sweet_, and the lady just laughs. "Trust me, dear! Oh, I'm giving you extra rice balls. You wanna be thin, but not _that_ thin!"

"Thanks," Toph replies, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She passes by a group of older boys and sits down at a table that's far away from anyone in her class. The group of boys are whispering in excitement, and Toph can't really stop herself from eavesdropping on their conversation.

_"Have you heard about the new lightweight champ? Isn't it crazy?"_ One of the boys asks, voice tinged with excitement that piques Toph's interest.

_"C'mon, it's fake. There's no way it _isn't_ fake,"_ another boy replies, shoveling food into his face as he speaks. _"Scariest fight I've seen in awhile, but it's fake."_ He sounds convinced of this. But the way the student's voice tremors slightly and the fact that he misses his mouth when he goes to take a bite from his dish tells them all a different story.

_"Heh, yeah, don't you know all those fights are rigged, Nishiya?"_ a third boy snorts. _"It was a good fight, it was a crazy fight, but it wasn't a real fight. You should go watch a hero fight instead."_

_"But think about it! Why would someone call themself the Blind Bandit if they weren't _really blind?_"_

_"You're outta your mind, Nishi,"_ his friend pats his shoulder in consolation. _"No way a little blind girl could win Quirk Rumble 82 all on her own."_

_"Well, it's Tuesday, isn't it?"_ Nishiya reminds them pointedly. _"She's fighting again tonight. Let's go and find out."_

Toph slurps up the last of her noodles, carefully wiping her mouth to hide her wide grin.

_PAST_

_"I can't make her forget everything, Mrs. Beifong. It doesn't work like that."_

_"Surely you just need a push? You've done work like this before, we can supply you with—"_

_"I'm not going on that stuff again. Endeavor is a full grown man with forty years of memory to compensate for a few changes. Your daughter is seven. These memories are ingrained, they're essential to her development as a person. I can pick apart certain things, but you say she's willful. I can only reinforce what you want over time."_

_"You've never needed more than a week to do what is necessary. Aiko, do not take advantage of my generosity. If you think you think you'll get paid more for drawing this out—"_

_"God, no, this isn't about the fucking cash, do you want me to leave your daughter brain-dead, Poppy? I've done it before, I'll do it again if that's what's necessary."_

_"No, no. We'll… we'll just have more sessions. How will I know it's working?"_

_"You won't be able to tell,"_ Aiko answers tiredly. _"You can't sense her mind the way I can. I'll know if she truly accepts the alterations or not. And it's fragile, Poppy. My control can be undone. I won't make this a permanent fix."_

_"That's fine. We don't need a permanent fix. For now, I just need to keep her in line. Get her to stop thinking about _that boy_ and becoming a _hero_. Can you do that, Aiko?"_

_"Yes, Mrs. Beifong. She'll obey you."_

Toph slides to the floor of her bedroom, two stories above the conversation between Dr. Aiko and her mother, her heart pounding and her head a mess. Endeavor was supposed to follow up with her police report and quirk registration, but she's heard nothing about it since she came back from the hospital. He's already been changed—and if the Number Two Hero was already under her control, there's a good chance everyone else involved has been mind-wiped as well. There's a good chance a lot of people have forgotten a lot of stuff, and that there isn't even a hero out there trying to stop it.

Toph is _alone_.

She lets out a few gasping breaths filled with utter terror, and then digs her fingers into the cool marble flooring with a wild, desperate sense of resolve like nothing she's ever felt before.

There is a lot going on that Toph doesn't know about. There's a lot that Toph won't know once Aiko is done with her, because Toph is seven and alone and doesn't know a thing about mind-control quirks.

But she knows this: she will never obey.

Whatever it takes, _Toph will not obey._

_PRESENT_

Names are hard to come up with. Toph realized very quickly that she's only good at insults and nicknames. So at her first night at the Rumble, she tied a black scarf over the top half of her face and, quite cleverly, called herself the Blind Bandit.

It stuck.

_"I think it's legit, the host doesn't let phony fights slide. She's just that good! There's probably more to her quirk than just rocks, you know they have to keep it secret to keep the fights good. She could be using a magnetism quirk, she cut that bo staff clean in two!"_

A small grin creeps onto Toph's face again. Her last fight in the winter championship was wild. Her challenger almost deafened her with banshee screams. Her head was ringing all _day_ afterwards.

She beat him by drawing up the concrete floor of the arena into armor and then snapped the steel bo-staff he used to defend himself. It had been a poorly-made weapon, she had felt the fault lines forming in the metal from just a few hits against the ground. It caused her hands to ache afterwards, but it was worth the win.

_"It was amazing! It's like she could read his mind with the way she moved! I've never seen an earth-type quirk used like that, she's brilliant!"_

_"Sounds like you have a crush, Nishiya,"_ someone teases. _"You know she's probably some kid, right?_"

_"Hey, you don't know that, you're supposed to be eighteen to enter the Rumble. Some people just look young even if they aren't!"_

_"Oh please, like Loban cares if she's underage. Just look at the ratings! The place is packed whenever Bandit has a fight… Oh, and did you see that porcupine dude in the middleweight tournament? He was scary... "_

She was lucky that Loban, the manager of the Quirk Rumble, liked her so much. It took a while to convince him to let her compete, but in the end, the benefits outweighed the risks—after just a few weeks, Toph was one of the most infamous fighter in the Rumble. She can put on a show and beat losers into the ground in the same move.

It's not the same as fighting villains, but it's a hell of a rush. And Toph is still improving.

_PAST_

"You have a pretty strong quirk too," Aiko murmurs in a familiar, probing tone. She says this at every session, checking every facet of her thoughts for the past year. "But you're not going to do anything dangerous with it, right?"

"No, I—" Toph catches herself, choosing her words with care. "My quirk isn't strong." The words are grating, like a mouthful of glass shards, but still true. Her quirk _isn't_ enough. Not yet. "I wouldn't do anything that would hurt me." She never acts with the intention of getting injured, after all. She's not in any danger when she fights, not in Toph's definition of danger.

"Good," Aiko says in relief, letting her hand slip away. "You're doing so well, Toph. I'm not sure how much longer we need these sessions, to be honest."

Toph smiles sweetly at Ms. Aiko, the same smile she presents every day to her parents. Her head aches a little, but she'll never let it show.

After Aiko leaves, Toph sags into the couch like a puppet with all the strings cut loose. She takes a moment to reiterate what she knows and what she's missing, something she's been doing all year since the sessions.

_Twinkletoes._

She can't remember his real name. Her parents never wanted her to talk about him, and at some point, Aiko must've pulled that away from her memories to stop her from thinking of him.

Toph doesn't mention her nicknaming habits to anyone, though, so she still remembers Twinkletoes: a loud boy, light on his feet,_ I'll find you, I'll find you, I promise._

_Shouto Todoroki_. She remembers him. _Stay away._ He has peppermint hair. He's quiet. He can't control fire very well. _Stay away, stay away, stay away._

Toph can't really figure out _why_ she has to stay away. Every time she tries to think about it a great sense of fear creeps over her and her head starts to throb painfully at the thought of fire.

_Endeavor_. There was an incident. The one she can't talk about. He's rude to parents, Toph likes that. _He's dangerous, stay away._ Well she's not going near any hero fights. She's no good against fire anyway.

_Toph Beifong._ Quirk?

...Earth Sense.

No. _Earthbending._

She just wants to punch some people. She's going to see Twinkletoes again and show off what she's learned. Eventually. When they're heroes—

Toph winces at the pain that shoots through her temples. Right, she can't do heroes. Twinkletoes. _Twinkletoes_. He's light on his feet, and he told her—he told her they would be partners, and Toph believes it.

She trains because her quirk is weak. This thought has always been the hardest to fit into place, but it has to be true. It is true. She fights, underground and unknown, because she _needs_ to fight. That is undeniable. It's why she started eavesdropping on delinquents and sneaking out at night to find the fights.

Toph's head throbs in protest, but the thoughts are wedged into place, immovable in her head.

She sighs, rubbing her temples. "Take that, Aiko."

_PRESENT_

It's Tuesday. Quirk Rumble 83 starts with a round-robin for the lightweight fighters and a short, two-day tournament for the heavyweights.

Toph loses her match, but with minimal injury. They have a medic for registered contenders, and Toph gets off with an ice-pack for her shoulder and an energy drink. Toph isn't too mad about the loss, though she could hear Nishiya and his friends groaning about it from the nosebleeds. She was up against some lady with a jumping quirk Toph had a hell of a time trying to pin down. Apparently the lady was pretty hot, because even though a lot of people had lost bets on the Blind Bandit there were even more people simply distracted by how much skin her opponent, 'Bunny Babe,' was showing.

Okay, so maybe that _was_ a weird fight. Toph is nine years old and it's kinda hard for her to fully accept all the leering that goes on around her. That was the only sucky difference between underground fighting and hero-fighting. Underground fights were subject to a lot more pervs, and sometimes the fights turned into more of a show than a real challenge.

_Can't believe I lost to someone named Bunny Babe, though,_ Toph thinks ruefully, sipping on her drink from the sidelines. They're onto day two of the heavyweight tournament now, which always gets the most attention. They have to be held in even bigger stadiums than what Toph fights in, and tickets are really hard to come by, so that usually filters out the gross people from the crowd.

"Hey little lady!" A thin man plops into the seat beside her. 'Quick Slice'. He's another lightweight contender, and a regular at the Quirk Rumble. Some of the contenders can be real dickbags, but others, like Slice, are kinda silly.

"Can't believe the Babe bested the Blind Bandit! What an upset! And what a _show_!" He nudges her with his elbow. "It's a shame you can't see. You're gonna miss out on a lot on those R-rated fights!"

Toph stops drinking to reach a hand towards her shoulder. Then, concentrating on the thin coating of dust over her clothes, she flicks out a dense pebble of earth that hits him squarely on the nose. She figured out how to do that against the Muddler two months ago, made it way easier to clean off her clothes.

Slice yelps in surprise. "I'm joking, you brat!"

"Shush," Toph says, tilting her head. "I wanna hear all the smack talk. This knucklehead is way funnier than you."

The man lifts his head in delight. "Who, big arms? Ooh, what do you think of the mask guy?"

Toph would give him a deadpan look, but she's still wearing the scarf to cover the upper half of her face. "Mask? You mean the dude with swords?"

"Uh, who else would I… Oh. Sorry B, I still forget. Sword-guy's wearing a full-face spooky mask. Kinda mysterious."

Toph rolls her eyes. It's not mysterious when you can hear sword man cursing under his breath and getting riled up by Iron Arms's taunts. "He's just another hothead. He's not even checking where he is in the ring."

"Huh?" Slice leans closer just as the smaller fighter is punched cleanly in the solar plexus, sliding uncontrollably towards the edge of the arena. At the last minute he's able to stab a dagger into the ground and halt his movement, but the knife sinks so deeply he has to abandon it. "Aw, no fair! The ground's all muddy from the last match!"

"It was already muddy," Toph argues. Despite being called an underground ring, this stadium is outdoors. Toph helped construct it in the middle of a swamp, so she has to stay to help break it down once it's over. Part of her deal with Loban is working as part of his staff.

"Still! No fair!"

"Quit your yapping," Toph punches him in the arm, just as sword guy twists out of the way of a punch and pulls himself to his feet. Huh, looks like he's not out of the game just yet.

"Look at him go," Slice comments anyway. "Like a little _gnat_. Can't believe he convinced Loban to let him compete. He doesn't belong in the heavyweight ring with those moves."

Toph wishes she could compete in the heavyweight tournament. It's pretty dumb to stick to a weight-class system when quirks threw such huge variables into the mix, but without any system it'd be total chaos trying to organize a tournament with all the fighters Loban manages. The weight system simply helps estimate the scale of destruction caused by the fights, though in this case it's mostly Iron Arms doing the work.

In the lightweight tournament she has to keep the damage to a minimum. Which is fine and all for practicing her aim and the minute details of bending, but it gets a little boring. But this? Iron Arms smashing up the ground trying to squash a small-fry opponent?

She _loves_ this.

"Ooohh!" The crowd winces in sympathy as sword guy is finally whacked out of bounds, ending the fight. He's only a few feet from Toph and Slice when he finally rolls to a stop, groaning in pain.

Toph shakes her head. "C'mon Stabby. Even _I_ saw that right hook coming."

Sword guy clutches at his side. He's probably got a few cracked ribs. "Aren't you—too _young_ for this sorta place?" He pants as a few guys step up to escort him to the medical area.

Toph lifts her head to call back, "Aren't you too _inexperienced_ for this sorta place?" She hears a faint _"fuck you"_ in return, and cackles to herself.

_PAST_

"The Beifongs don't have a daughter," Umeko says into Endeavor's mind, letting her words seep into his thoughts. She can feel it twisting like a corkscrew, blocking off memories and emotions along the way. With the artificial high amplifying her quirk, Umeko can practically _see_ the spider-web force of her words tying up _knots_ and stitching together events and _cutting off_ channels and _worming_ into _every_ _crevice_—and this is with just one _sentence_, holy _shit_—

Umeko blinks, refocusing her gaze on Endeavor's paralyzed face. The victims to her quirk can maintain some level of awareness while she works. Endeavor looks _furious_. Umeko feels vaguely sick beneath the high.

She ignores him, moving on with the instructions left on her phone. There's a few more people and words that need to be pulled from Endeavor's mind, plus all the evidence he's collected, but someone else is in charge of all physical traces.

Umeko repeats the last few statements, but keeps her eyes shut so she doesn't have to see the tangled web of thought she's weaving through his headspace. Her quirk usually allows her to follow along someone's general train of thought as she adds to it, but this is much more complicated. Mental blocks are usually enough to erase certain events or ideas from a mind, but with the gravitas of what she's changing, it's… _dizzying_ to look at.

"You're putting a lot of time into this case, hero," Umeko mutters to herself, sinking back into her seat. She has both her hands wrapped around Endeavor's fist. It's a good thing he wasn't wearing his costume today, otherwise Umeko would've had to grab him by the ear or something to catch him. "Take a break, you flame freak. I sure as hell would want one after this investigation.." She wants to go _home_. God, she just wants this to be over so she can be with her son and figure out_ cat names_, she deserves a vacation…

Umeko pauses, opening her eyes to look at Endeavor. "You've been obsessed with this case from the start…. So why did you take that sick day?" she asks, prompting his mind to turn towards the memory. Umeko frowns, and dives deeper into the memory. A hospital._ His wife?_ Oh, Rei does kinda look like Umeko with her hair down. His sons, however, take after _him_…

It occurs to Umeko that she doesn't really know anything about Endeavor. He has some children, his wife is ill. There's a lot of emotions that are hard for her to parse through. "What happened to them?" Umeko whispers, "_What happened to your sons?_"

She presses into his mind again, and all she can see is fire.

_PRESENT_

Someone tall and lanky slinks into the seat directly beside Slice, silent as a shadow. Toph lifts her head in acknowledgement, and Slice pauses in his cheering.

"B? What're you..._AH!_" He whips around and jolts back in surprise at the stranger beside him. "Whoa, uh, hi, who the fuck are _you_?!"

"You two were in the lightweight fights tonight, weren't you," the stranger states. He leans back in his seat lazily, and Slice's heart rate skyrockets. Wow, Toph wishes she could be that intimidating without actually lifting a finger. "Quick Slice and the Blind Bandit."

"Yeah?" Slice answers quickly, matching the stranger's bored tone. "What's it to you, kid?"

"I'm not a _kid_. I want to join the Rumble." Now _that_, at least, catches Toph's interest.

Slice barks out a laugh that seems far more confident than Toph knows he is. "Oh, you're definitely a kid. Whaddya think, B? Student-aged for _sure_, and we don't do that here!"

Toph rolls her eyes, flashing an amused grin. The stranger _does_ sound young, with a quick heartbeat that belies youth rather than nervousness, much like her own. "A _delinquent_ student no less," she notes, taking a long sip from her bottle. "You can't even view the fights if you're under eighteen, buddy."

"But there's no way _you're_ old enough to—_ugh!_" Just as Toph expected, the teenager's pulse jumps in surprise for a moment at her guess, even though it's painfully obvious that a lot of students watch the fights and not all the contenders are legitimate ones. "Quit beating around the bush. I want to enter. _Where do I sign up?_" He snaps.

Toph purses her lips. Loban made an exception for her, and she doesn't think the manager will appreciate her introducing more risky fighters to his tournament. "You can't sign up unless you check all the boxes, hotshot," she explains tersely, setting her drink aside to fold her arms. "And since I don't know how you fight… Tell me the truth, Slice—_does he look like a contender?"_

Slice is silent for a moment, humming and scratching his cheek in consideration. The teenager's pulse creeps up again as he tenses in place, but he doesn't say a word. Then Slice leans towards Toph. "He's about as scary as you are cute, Bandit. Could be _fun_ to throw down with this dunderhead."

The stranger exhales an angry breath of air through his teeth, foot tapping on the ground.

"I'll see what I can do, eh?" Slice decides, hopping to his feet. "Keep an _eye_ on the kid while I'm gone, BB!"

"_Thanks,_" the teenager grunts out, curling his hands into even tighter fists.

Toph snorts. "You got a fighting name yet, or should I just call you _Hotshot?_"

The teenager freezes in place for a moment, his foot pausing mid-tap. "I actually need a _fighting_ name for this shit?"

She grins. "Did you think my given name was _Blind Bandit?"_

"Shut up," he huffs, scratching his head in rough, sharp movements. "That slice guy just uses the name of his quirk, so I thought I'd do that."

Toph blows a raspberry at him.

_"What?"_ He snaps angrily.

Toph though her reaction was pretty self-explanatory, but whatever. "Loban won't accept just _any_ name. It's gotta fit with your _theme_."

"My what-now?"

"Oh my _god_," Toph sighs. "You're not a hotshot, you're a hot _mess_. Did you put any thought into this before you waltzed over here and asked to sign up?"

"Fuck _off_, kid, you're half my size. If _you_ can do it, why can't—"

"_And at this point,_ buddy, you better stop before you go from hot mess to just a _mess on the floor_," Toph interrupts him loudly, rising to her feet. The hotshot goes silent, if not in fear then at least in surprise. "I'm only trying to help, _asshole_. If you can't handle common decency you can leave right now."

She can practically hear how tightly he's clenching his jaw. His hand is twitching too, and Toph zeroes in on the movement, waiting for him to make a decision. She doesn't know a _thing_ about this chucklehead's quirk, but if he's a hothead, there's a chance he'll lash out like an idiot.

If the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly, it's too faint for him to feel it.

"Maybe I should just go with Hotshot," he mutters, shoulders lowering. In one sentence, the tension building between them melts into thin air. Toph's glad. She doesn't need Loban yelling at her for wiping the floor with an audience member.

Maybe she's overconfident, but Toph doesn't go down easy. It doesn't matter how strong this dude might be, with a temper like that he can't be much of a challenge.

"You think?" Toph says neutrally, taking a step back.

He grunts in response, bringing up a hand to rub his chin. "You really are blind, right?"

Toph cocks her head to the side. "Yeah. It's no gimmick."

"Then how'd you guess it?"

She has no idea what he's talking about. "Guess _what?"_

"_Hotshot_," he repeats, like that's an answer. Toph's lack of reaction says otherwise.

He gives a soft huff of exasperation and folds his arms again, fidgeting like he's itching for a fight he can't get. "Nevermind. You'll find out if I get in."

Toph shrugs. "Guess I will. Good luck with that, Hotshot."

* * *

**A/N: here's the start of book two! everything will be posted in this same story, i just like to separate them into 'books' for the story arcs and as an homage to A:TLA**


	8. Book 2: Lightning- In Each of Our Hearts

"Nope. No way." Toph crosses her arms firmly, raising her chin. "Why would you even ask me that?"

"I second that," a bitter teenager grumbles next to her, trembling with rage and exhaustion. "I'm not getting lessons from a _toddler_."

Anger spiking, Toph flicks her foot, sending a piece of rubble flying into the offender's temple before he could so much as blink.

"What the _FUCK_—"

"Both of you cut that shit out," Loban's stern voice slices through the thick, smoking air. Hotshot's still rippling with anger, but he's out of it from his trial run. "You're not competing until my employees approve it. You've already trashed one practice ring, I can't imagine the shit you'll pull in a real fight."

"I can control it," he mutters, shifting his feet unsteadily.

Toph can't help but laugh. "No, you really can't. But wow, I can't say the name doesn't fit." Now she gets his question from the first time they met.

He growls. "Just put me in the heavyweight group then, they fuck up your stadiums all the time."

Loban growls right back, and it sounds a lot more intimidating from someone with a Tiger-mutation quirk. Hotshot is unnerved even if he doesn't say it, Toph can tell. "Not the problem. The problem is the burning. We can handle minor injuries, but burns are different. You know how hard it is to nab a medic that can treat third or fourth-degree burns? It's not cheap, I'm sure you know that."

Hotshot goes stiff as a board for a second. "No, I don't. Quillfish is fine, no one got actually hurt, just like you asked."

Toph twitches. That's not strictly true. Because while Quillfish—terrible match up for a fire quirk anyway—only has a mild rash and a few bruises, but Hotshot himself…

"And here I thought _Bandit_ was the blind one!" Loban snaps, striding up and grabbing Hotshot's wrist. He flinches badly at the contact, and when he yanks his arm away Loban lets him go. "Either you control yourself, or you're out, and I never want to see your face at my tournament again. Y'got that kid?"

Hotshot is mute. But Toph assumes he nods, because Loban doesn't yell again.

"I'll owe ya one for this, Bandit. Can you handle fire or not?"

Toph thinks about it. Fire is more dangerous to her because she can't anticipate it like most solid objects. She's never actually fought someone using fire. Not like Hotshot's quirk, which spread to half the stadium in seconds.

It's a frightening power. She is frightened of it, whether she wants to be or not. I'm sure he's scared of it too, by the way he's acting, Toph thinks, It must be pretty sucky to be afraid of your own power.

She shrugs, turning to Hotshot. "Guess we'll find out."

* * *

Hotshot's whining under his breath as they leave the arena, shoving a jacket on with great reluctance. "Where are we going, brat? If we're gonna train, shouldn't we do it here instead of wrecking another place?"

Toph adjusts her bangs, hanging in thick locks over her face, and then sticks a baseball cap over it. Her face isn't well-known outside of school, and she's more concerned about people realizing how young she is. "One of the outdoor locations," she says simply. "We'll take the train."

He pauses, and then grunts in annoyance and goes rifling through his pockets for something. The next time he speaks, his voice is muffled by a surgical mask. "I don't like the train."

"Neither do I," she agrees neutrally. Again, she wonders what he must look like, but doesn't push it. "Tell me about your quirk."

He gives a long-suffering sigh, but answers. Loban's Rumble sure does pay well, after all. "I generate fire. It's blue and hotter than normal fire."

"Is that why the arena fell apart so quickly?" She asks. "Even the ground was disintegrating."

He gives another hum of acknowledgement as the step onto the platform. "Which train is it?"

"The one headed towards Ueno." It's pretty late that there's only a few trains running, and the platform is virtually empty. Toph keeps her voice low, but casual. "Is it backlash from generating fire, or are you getting burned after it's made?"

"...Not sure." He fidgets, and Toph can still smell acrid smoke on both of their clothes. Actually, she can smell a chemical too, the kind she smells at home after her mother gets her hair dyed.

So, a surgical mask, dyed hair, and a burnt (?) face. He's really embracing the punk-rock delinquent life. _I bet he has piercings too._ Toph wants to convince herself that Hotshot's some idiot loner, but he also seems kind of cool.

He shuffles his feet, scuffing a heel on the concrete idly. "Either way, it can't be helped. That's just what my quirk is, it's called _Cremation_ for a reason."

Toph rolls her eyes. "You can call it whatever you want. According to Loban,_ I_ get to decide what you can do."

"I'm aware," he grits his teeth, but there's no real edge to his tone. Good. Toph already knew he could reign in his temper, now he just had keep his quirk in check alongside it. Passion is great and all, but letting your emotions run a fight never ends well.

"Why's he asking a little kid like you to train me?" Hotshot continues after a moment. "You don't even _have_ a fire quirk, I'm sure there's someone else that knows more about it than you."

Toph remembers the sound her bones make when they fracture. She's only done it a few times since she was kidnapped, pushing her body too far and too hard just to prove a point in the ring. In her case, fractures are easy to treat as long as she gives herself the time to heal properly. And because her senses are so good she can adjust her movements to avoid future breaks.

"Because I fight to win." Loban's known this for a while now. He doesn't like it, but her appeal as a contender goes beyond her quirk, it's her resolve that fans admire. "I love fighting. I like getting better at it. And sometimes I break my hands in the process."

There's a rumble in the earth, indicating that a train is near. The PA system of the platform crackles to life, announcing the train to Ueno as it chugs onto the platform. As always, the sound grates on her ears and Toph scowls as they pick seats in the train car. This is one of the only reason she bothers to wear shoes on a regular basis. Since moving further into Tokyo, the trains and cars leave the ground constantly buzzing—not to mention the constant stomp of pedestrians all over the place.

Hotshot clears his throat unsubtly. "So your quirk can injure you."

"Rocks are hard. Fire is hot." Any quirk can be dangerous.

"Wow, that's so helpful."

"Shut it, Sparky, I'm being profound." She really isn't.

"Are you sure."

Toph resists the urge to punch him. "Elemental quirks are pretty simple, but that doesn't make them easier to master. The more power you have, the more control you need. Still following?"

"Shut up," Hotshot mutters, growing sullen. "You think I haven't tried controlling my fire before? I've been training my whole life, and it still isn't enough."

Toph picks at her ear idly. "Then why are you still here?"

He pauses. "What?"

Toph lifts her head, flicking away the dirt from her nails. Hotshot likes to talk big, but Toph can read him like a book. He can complain and question her all he wants, it doesn't change the fact that he's still listening—still hoping for something more. "Buddy, if you were so sure you've tried it all, you would've quit when Loban made his offer."

"I… " The words die in his mouth. "I don't know," he says finally.

Toph crosses her arms. "I think you're here because some part of you hasn't given up yet. And if you're willing to put in the work, so am I."

The train rolls to a stop, and they exit the car in silence. Toph leads the way, headed towards the outskirts of the city. They stop when they reach the beginnings of a forest. Or, more specifically, a swamp.

"What is this place?" Hotshot asks, seeming rather repulsed as he pulls his foot out of muck.

Toph grins, kicking off her sneakers without hesitation. "This is the Blind Bandit's Swamp Boot Camp—_no shoes required!_" Her feet sink deeply into the blend of plant, earth, and water. The perfect place to snuff out any errant fires and practice her own powers in peace. "Really, take off your shoes, they're gonna get ruined."

Hotshot is silent for a moment, baffled, before he mutters something about the state of his loafers and tugs them off. "I'm already regretting all of this."

* * *

Okay. Toph swore to herself when she started school that she would avoid any and all hero-type punks that could get her into trouble with her parents. First year—perfect, untroubled, no problems. But it's been a couple months since she was moved into class 3A and _holy shit she's gonna murder this class of pansies_.

Once word spread that Toph was 1) super blind and helpless and 2) heir to a huge fortune, the goodie-two-shoes of class 3A were scrambling to befriend her, because they're all crazy ambitious or greedy bitches or—Toph doesn't even know, could you be a gold-digger at age nine? Kanto sure seemed like one. Her previous class wasn't nearly as interested in her, but this class is the "smarter" section, the "top tier" of the school, and they're all _assholes_.

Just declining invitations to lunch or after-school hang outs isn't enough for class 3A. They're _persistent_, and it's getting on Toph's nerves. She's not trying to make waves or anything, but if a girl _physically_ grabs Toph's arm in order to "hang out" with her, that girl better be prepared for a verbal smackdown at the very least.

"Beifong-san!" Tenya Iida, newest bane of her existence, calls out, popping up next to her just as the class ends for lunch break. She'd be startled by the abrupt greeting if not for the all clomping, metallic steps he makes. Toph can sense Iida coming from a mile away, literally. She's never been so bothered by the way someone moves, but man does Iida like to _move_.

Apparently his quirk is having _engines_ in his legs, and as soon as Toph overheard that, she tried to focus on the shape and size of the organic-mechanical mutation—**big mistake**.

It's so _loud_. It's as if now that she's heard it, she can't _un_-hear it, which is something that's never happened to her before. The vibrations he makes are sharper than other footsteps, a rumble that rip-roars to life whenever he activates his quirk.

"_What_, Iida?" Toph answers, hoping to convey as much reluctance and irritation as possible in the fewest words. Maybe that's not only Iida's fault though, she's also still sore from sparring with that Jello-Head fighter. The Quirk Rumble had a few medics on hand in case any of the fights got dicey, but there wasn't much to do about muscle fatigue.

"I noticed you haven't been sitting with any of our classmates during lunch," Iida continues, his voice slightly more muted than usual.

Toph scoffs. "Neither have _you_," she shoots back, and immediately regrets it. She's not supposed to know that, but she really can pick out his footsteps from anywhere in the school.

"Wh—_How_ would you know?" Iida exclaims.

She frowns deeply, thinking fast. "Because you want me to sit with you at lunch?"

"I—well. Yes? I think we got off on the wrong foot the other day. You're clearly very capable and a good student, and I should not have assumed otherwise because of your blindness."

Toph rolls her eyes. "That's right." She shoved her belonging into her bag and stands from her desk. His engine legs were rumbling a lot, making him vibrate in place.

"Beifong-san? You haven't answered yet. Would you mind if we ate lunch together? I would like to know more about you!" Iida insists, oozing earnestness.

Toph is quiet. She doesn't care who she sits with, first of all. If her parents find out she's "consorting with hero kids" that won't go over well. But do they even care anymore? Should she worry about them bringing that creepy therapist back? It's not like she hasn't been going behind their backs already.

"No." His quirk is giving her a headache anyway.

He freezes for a moment, shocked. Toph goes to walk around him.

"But… Beifong-san, I…" He reaches a hand towards her.

"Get _out_ of my way, Engine Legs," Toph says plainly, deftly turning her shoulder out of reach and walking quickly down the hall, leaving Iida at the edge of the classroom.

She's halfway to the cafeteria when he does this sort of vibrating-revving thing and then _whoosh_.

Her hair flies up, pulled out of her headband from the sudden gust of wind in her face. Toph is startled, and for a second she's overcome by the familiarity of it. Twinkletoes did it all the time. Except this is _Iida_, Iida with footsteps like thunder and a prep-school smugness that makes Toph want to commit murder.

"Beifong-san!" He skids to a stop at her side. "What was that! I was lead to believe you were blind!"

Toph's face scrunches up in confusion. He seems surprised, and a little suspicious of her, and Toph can't fathom why. "I… am blind. I got the sunglasses and everything," she points to the glasses on her face. They're round and have dark green lenses that match her headband, according to the nanny that picked them out.

"Then—then how did you know about my legs?"

Toph raises her eyebrows in alarm, because, oh shit she's not suppose to know that.

"Uh," Toph says eloquently, "Because… someone… told me you had engine legs?"

"... Oh," Iida says sheepishly. "Sorry, that was a foolish question. I couldn't help but wonder, you tend to move and act like a normal—sighted—person most of the time." He's trying to be more careful about his wording now, at least. "So I was thinking—do you still have spatial awareness, and only partially blind?"

He's more observant than Toph gave him credit for, even if he's wrong. "Why are you so interested me, dude?" She asks instead. "Have you been watching me or something?"

"N-No! Not in the sense you are implying! I was only concerned!" Iida backtracks immediately, suddenly waving his hands in wide, fast arcs. Or at least that's what it seems like. His legs are vibrating again, throwing off her senses. "You just seemed very isolated from our peers, so I wanted to show you that you weren't alone!"

"Isolated?" She's not _isolated_. Who even says that? And who uses that as a reason to talk to a classmate? "You took pity on me is what you're saying," Toph surmises. "And quit moving around so much," she warns him, shaking her head.

"What—this isn't pity!" Iida yelps, and he does another chopping motion with his hand, like he's slicing the air, very nearly smacking her in the face. "Please do not twist my words, Beifong-san!_ I only want to be friends!"_

He punctuates his sentence with another whoosh of his hands, and this time Toph reacts instinctively, deflecting his hand before he whacks her head. "Quit it!" Toph snaps, grabbing his hand in mid-air and yanking it down to his side. Her hands curl into fists in her skirt so she doesn't try punching him. "Maybe you're the one feeling isolated, Iida—and it's your own fault, for acting so high and mighty all the time. You're just like the rest of this class."

Iida splutters in surprise and stops in the middle of the hallway, but Toph just keeps moving. Great, she's gonna get to the lunch line late because of this weirdo. But maybe he'll give up on following her around and her headache will go away.

Alas, luck is not on her side. Iida jogs back to her side in a few seconds, making up the distance with a few long strides rather than using his engines. "I'm very sorry for almost hitting you," he says slowly, "But—but you're also very rude, and—_and I have had enough of it._"

Oh, wow. There's no mistaking the anger in his tone now. Toph is surprised, to say the least. They both slow down without realizing it, just at the edge of the lunchroom. Toph crosses her arms, waiting. Iida says nothing.

"Well go on, _Sensei_, don't stop now," Toph arches an single eyebrow at him.

He's actually shaking. "You are the most—_belligerent_—person I have ever met. I have been nothing but kind to you, and you refuse to act civilly with me! What have I ever done to _you?!_" He sounds so offended. She's not the only one putt off by his weirdness, so why's he blaming her?

Toph rolls her eyes, even as her gut twists in discomfort. "Take a _hint_, Iida. I don't want to be friends."

"And I don't believe that!" Iida snaps.

Toph's jaw drops. "What do you mean you don't believe me?!" She splutters. "What, you can't believe someone wouldn't want to be friends with your annoying ass?!"

"No! I _mean_ you're—You shouldn't _speak_ like that! I never said—"

"Go bother someone else," Toph cuts him off, rubbing her temple. "We're done here."

Finally, when she leaves, Iida doesn't follow her. Instead, she's haunted by a headache and a distinctly shitty feeling in her heart.

* * *

The headache never really goes away. Next Tuesday, she almost wants to forfeit her match because of it. But like hell is she gonna bow out like a pansy.

_CRASH_

Toph dives out of the way just in time, rolling inelegantly back to her feet. From the sidelines, she hears jeering. Her mouth _burns_. Growling to herself, she spits out a glob of blood, having bit the inside of her cheek.

"What's the matter, little girl?!" Her opponent taunts, quickly reeling in his clunky fist. His long-range attacks are faster than Toph expected, and she's already been nicked by two of his fist-throws. He's been taking hits too, she can tell by the way he's limping.

Toph kicks the ground, throwing up a few stalagmites to knock Reel Pop off-balance and give her some time to think. She hasn't even been knocked down, but her head's kind of killing her. She should've taken some ibuprofen before getting in the ring.

Reel Pop's already winding up for another strike, dodging around her obstacle course for a clear line of fire. She can feel his moves, and she knows there's only a few spots he can take a clean shot from, so—

_WHAM!_

Her mind blanks. She can't feel anything.

His fist deflected off the rocks, Toph guesses in dismay.

Then, slowly, like water rushing back in, she's barraged by vibrations all around. The ring. The stands. The low buzz of fluorescents. Her own breath, blood pumping, muscles creaking. Head _pounding_ like a motherfucker.

Reel Pop stepping towards her. She shuts out all the other noise.

Toph lurches to the right, but then her knee makes a horrible sound as the punch _connects_. Teeth clenched, Toph digs a hand into the ground and forces up a burst of dust particles. Before Reel Pop can even react to the distraction, she lifts her hand further to bring up an uppercut of hard concrete.

It connects. Reel Pop goes flying out of the ring.

_"WE HAVE OUR WINNER! THE BLIND BANDIT PREVAILS ONCE MORE!"_

Toph lifts herself on one knee, and raises one fist in victory.

She can hear Hotshot yelling on the sidelines, barely acknowledging it over the throbbing pain of her leg. _"Bandit, you dumbass. Jello, go get the fucking medic, she can't even stand."_

Toph lowers her fist, then points in Hotshot's direction to flip him off.

_"Fuck you too, Sifu."_

Sifu. Hah. Hotshot's a headache too, but he's a lot more fun.


	9. Book 2: Lightning - Todoroki's Lost Days

**(Tuesday)**

Fuyumi Todoroki can pinpoint the exact day that her father began to change. It wasn't anything sudden or unusual, but it had a cause and now, two years after Touya ran away from home, their dad is different.

It's not a very-good different, or a very-bad different. _Nice_, if you ask Fuyumi, and _Absolutely Meaningless_, if you ask Natsuo.

_"Yeah, he's different," the eleven-year-old rolls his eyes, brooding over his iced tea. "But he's still a dick—a jerk, sheesh, Fuyumi."_

_She still gives her brother a pointed look, unable to back down on this topic. "First of all, you're too young for that language. Second of all—can't you admit dad's trying, and that means something?"_

_Natsuo crosses his arms. "Yeah, it means he doesn't wanna ruin the rest of his offspring."_

_Fuyumi deflates. "He cares about our feelings. About Shouto's feelings too."_

_But her brother just shakes his head, carefully setting his glass in the sink and wiping his hands. "Fine, he doesn't want us to end up like Mom or Touya. But don't kid yourself, sis. Being decent now doesn't make up for what he's already done."_

Dad never mentions Touya.

But if a shouting match started up between Natsuo and him—as it does, too often and too passionate—it was more likely to end with Enji storming out of the house to cool off rather than Natsuo sneaking out in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. While Enji still trains Shouto most of the time, he also lurks around the courtyard of their home and yells at Fuyumi to do her physics homework. He demands a curfew for Natsuo when he's working at a friend's house, and when Fuyumi asked if she could have a cake for her birthday, Enji came home early enough to corral her brothers so they could all have supper together.

Granted, he has a busy schedule and it was actually four days after her birthday,_ but the effort is real._

And the most important difference for them all is Shouto. Shouto is still quiet, is still, painfully, the favorite, but after Touya's disappearance, Fuyumi starts to see him around the house more often, usually eyeing the book she's reading or the handheld game Natsuo is playing. Which means their dad isn't training as much with their youngest brother, and wasn't trying to separate them anymore.

And it's so _nice_ to get to know her youngest brother. Before, she didn't know a thing about him.

One day, while the three of them are home at the same time for once, Fuyumi gets up and shows Shouto that she's reading poetry for a literature class. She reads out a few of her assigned poems and explains what they're about. And Shouto doesn't say anything at all while she talks, just roams over the text with mismatched eyes.

But when she finishes talking, her eight-year-old brother looks up at her and says, frank and simple, "This isn't half as good as the way you explain it. I bet your poetry is a lot better than this crap."

Across the kitchen, Natsuo explodes into laughter, startling both of them. Fuyumi flushes, at both Natsuo and Shouto, because yeah she does have her own poetry but no one's even read it before, and also— "Sh-Shouto, you shouldn't speak like that! Who taught you that word, one of your tutors?"

Shouto gives one slow blink, and then replies, "The old man."

There's a muffled "_Oh my GOD,_" from Natsuo, and Fuyumi slaps her own forehead.

"Shouto, don't call him that! That's not very nice!" She insists.

"That's how he talks," her youngest brother answers, raising an eyebrow. "And Natsuo calls him that too."

Fuyumi stares, conflicted between admonishing her brother and simply being in awe of his cheekiness. She's oddly proud of him.

"Correction: I call him _damn_ old man!" Natsuo informs them, pausing in the middle of a math problem to join them on the staircase.

"But," Fuyumi flounders, setting her book aside. "But it's disrespectful? He's our dad! And he's not _that_ old!"

"That's what the old man says too," Natsuo agrees with a wicked grin. "Don't listen to 'Yumi, Shou-chan. Or dad, for that matter. They don't know what's good for you."

"And you _do?_" Fuyumi shoves at Natsuo as soon as he plops down next to her. "Don't confuse him, Natsuo, he's only eight!"

"Then…" their youngest brother draws their attention, "Then who do I listen to?" Shouto asks flatly, his brow beginning to furrow. "I don't want to always listen to Dad, but you two keep saying different things to me. And… Mom's not here. So."

His two older siblings pause, and exchange a quick look between each other.

Fuyumi chews on her lip for a moment, but when Natsuo doesn't speak up, she answers. "Yourself, Shouto. I think that's what Mom would say."

Their little brother looks back at the two of them with a little less conflict in his eyes than before, and Fuyumi thinks she's said the right thing.

As Shouto slips off to start his tutoring session and Natsuo returns to his homework, Fuyumi knows it's because of Dad that the conversation even took place. And Natsuo might not get it, but Fuyumi is grateful for the family she still has, Enji included.

* * *

On good days, she feels like a gardener. A creator. A shepard. It's not so bad, thinking of her role this way. She plants seeds and fosters them into great, blossoming worlds of knowledge and truth. It feels right. It resonates truth. It is beautiful.

Now, though, as a young boy lies thrashing on the operating table, screaming for someone that will not do a thing, Umeko Shinsou only feels drained.

"We'll fix it," the nurse beside her assures Umeko. "You haven't seen our full staff, we can reverse the procedure if it goes too far."

She centers herself. Ensures that her voice won't waver, will not leak any of the spiraling emotions in her head. "Hasn't it already?"

The nurse only gives her a pitying smile. As if Umeko has yet to grasp the importance of their work, as if Umeko is an outsider. But the nurse, a simple tool in the grand scope of their undertaking, could not be any farther from the truth.

_Is this the only way?_

* * *

**(Tuesday Night)**

Her leg is kind of fucked from the match, according to Hajime the medic. Toph listens with a deep frown on her face, feeling herself shake from the pain rather than the adrenaline. The lacerations have been sealed up completely, but there's serious muscle strain and the possibility of a tear from what the medic can assess. She can't put much pressure on her leg without it sending jolts of pain up her body, and there's nothing more Hajime can do about it.

Toph leans her head back on the cot. "Well, fuck." Her eyes are watering, but she couldn't care less. It _hurts_. She's in trouble.

The medic huffs. "Watch your tongue, missy. I don't know why Loban lets you fight, you're a liability to the Rumble like this."

Toph sticks her tongue out. "I-I've been doing this for months, usually I just get scrapes," she argues, but her voice wavers dangerously. It's beginning to get hard for her to focus on the sounds around her, and trying to sense vibrations is out of the question.

Hajime tsks. "You need a hospital. At the very least, you need a brace for that knee."

"I can't wear a brace," Toph snaps, shaking her head roughly, wiping at her eyes again. There's already a roll of stretchy bandaging material on the cot, ready to be used, and Toph knows it'll be too noticeable during the day. She hears the door open, and for once, she can't bothered to sense for who it is. The answer's apparent as soon as they speak anyway.

"You're still in here, brat? Fucked up that bad, eh?" Hotshot strolls toward her at a slow, even pace.

"What're you doing here?" Toph snaps again. "Get out, asshole."

The footsteps stop. "Can't you tell? Doc, does this need to be sealed or not?" Hajime leaves her side, and Toph frowns again. She'd assumed Hotshot was just here to annoy her, and she couldn't sense an injury.

While the two of them were preoccupied—Hotshot just had a long shallow cut that needed gauze—Toph sat up on the cot, carefully stretching out her right leg until her toes brush against the floor.

Nothing.

_What the fuck_—oh, wait, it's back. Toph shudders, gripping the papery bedsheet beneath her. For a moment she couldn't make sense of the vibrations around the room at all, and the world felt about as orderly as a tower of blocks toppling over. Toph shakes her head. She did get punched in the head, maybe that's causing the delay.

"Hajime, how can I tell if I have a concussion?" She asks, and then remembers that fucking _Hotshot is right there_. "I'm fine," she adds quickly, reaching out to feel for the wall. She can balance on one leg for now and escape.

The medic is already rushing towards her. "Sit, sit! Good grief, kid, don't you try to stand with that leg!" He's in front of her quickly, pushing her back onto the cot.

She lets him without complaint. Holy crap, her knee hurts. Her eyes are watering again. "You have painkillers, right? Nothing too strong…"

"What you need is localized anesthetic," Hajime worries, carefully avoiding her leg. "What's this about a concussion? Are you feeling dizzy or sensitive to sound at all?"

Toph scrunches up her nose. She only feels dizzy from the knee pain. As for her sensitivity… "Not really. If anything I'm less sensitive, I can't even—" she pauses, concentrating, and then she's able to locate Hotshot again, sitting in a fold-out chair to her left. "Ugh, I'm just _tired_," Toph says dismissively.

"Bandit, if you have a concussion on top of this knee—"

"I don't," Toph says more confidently. "I'm okay. I've got a hard skull, you've seen me break through concrete head-on."

The medic sighs irritably. "You still need to get that knee looked at. Stay here and ice that leg. I have other people to check on, and I'm telling Loban you won't be in the ring for a while."

"What?" Toph raises her eyebrows. "Hold up, I didn't say—"

"No, _I'm_ saying it," Hajime rises, dodging her grabby hand. "Unless you get Recovery Girl to kiss you, you'll be out for at _least_ two weeks."

"Who's that?" Toph asks, bewildered. "Wait, Hajime—" she lurches forward, swears colorfully at how her knee moves, and then the door swings shut behind the medic, leaving the room painfully silent.

Hotshot shifts in his seat, which reminds Toph that he's _right there_. She grimaces, reaching for the ice pack Hajime left for her. What the hell is she going to do? How could she fuck up in a fight so badly?

"What happened?" Hotshot says after a moment. "Reel Pop caught you off-guard. I've never seen you go down like that."

"I didn't go down," Toph denies immediately. "I _won_, remember?"

"Sure," he answers, but his voice is thick with sarcasm. "You ever heard of a pyrrhic victory?"

Toph scowls. "What the hell does that mean?"

"You don't—?" He snorts. "Whoops. Sometimes I forget you're an _actual_ child."

"You call me a brat, like, _all the time._"

He snorts again. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, a pyrrhic victory is when you win, but you're so fucked from the fight that you might as well have lost."

"Oh, so like all of your fights," Toph quips, though it does sound about right.

"Hey, fuck you too," he replies, but at this points it's delivered more like a casual greeting than an insult. "What are you gonna do about that leg?" he asks her, oddly solemn.

She's been trying to figure that out since Hajime told her she couldn't be fixed by him. Toph traces the swelling outline of her knee lightly. "...I can't hide this at all."

Hotshot simply hums in agreement.

She can wear leggings under her school uniform, it's still cold enough for her to do that. But walking on it, without painkillers or an ice pack… She has a driver to take her to school and back, and a maid that sees her out of the house each morning. She could make it past them, but a whole day of classes, with people like Tenya Iida breathing down her neck…

"Bandit," Hotshot calls to her quietly. "Is there anyone you can go to for this? Anyone that knows you fight here?"

Toph doesn't answer, biting hard on the inside of her cheek.

"I'm not trying to rat you out," he continues, "We don't use our real names here for a reason, I get it, but maybe you should talk to Loban about it. He has connections, he could get you treated—"

"I go to school, Hotshot," she cuts him off. She thinks over her words quickly and carefully. "And I can't show up with a brace or a cast or any indication I'm injured. _That's_ the problem, nothing else." She rubs her face, feeling the tension over her brow. "I-I'l get treated if I can, but no one can know what really happened."

"...Okay," he concedes after a moment, still sounding oddly serious. "You've held up alright with bruises before. How's the pain?"

Toph trembles, shaking her head. "Bad. I can't walk. But I haven't been given and medication yet."

"Well, I think we can do that much," Hotshot decides, rifling through plastic bottles. "Ibuprofen should bring the swelling down too. Take one now, don't take any more for at least four hours."

He hands her a pill. Toph frowns. Since when did Hotshot know anything about treating injuries? Also, she can't tell if the pill is what he says it is. It's hard enough for her to trust their actual medic, Toph can't just do whatever _Hotshot_ says.

Her trepidation must be visible on her face (and the fact that she hasn't moved to actually swallow the pill), because Hotshot huffs and drags a chair over to her. "I'm not trying to kill you or anything, kid. I swear it's just a painkiller."

Toph listens hard. He's sitting close enough for her to hear his heartbeat properly now. "Say that again," she requests. "Promise me."

He scoffs. "I promise it's just ibuprofen. It won't kill you," he repeats with exaggerated slowness.

She's heard him try to lie before, and this… sounds truthful. Toph takes the pill, chasing it with a sip of tap water. Then she downs the whole cup of water, feeling absolutely parched. Hotshot gets up without a word. Instead of leaving, though, the faucet turns on, and he fill another paper cup with water. "Drink more," he instructs.

She can't tell where the cup is without putting her foot on the ground, so she just holds out her hands and waits for him to pass it to her. It's what she does at home, where Toph has to make it painfully obvious that she's blind. She hates having to do it here, but it takes too much concentration to use her senses right now.

Toph sips on the water silently. Hotshot retakes his seat. In the back of her mind, Toph knows that this isn't like him. They might not be as rude to each other any more, but Hotshot's never been voluntarily helpful. He's never missed an opportunity to tease her about her height, age, or blindness. They don't hang out except to train, and usually it comes with a lot more cynical humor and broody teenage drama.

But right now, with her knee hurting like crazy even with the painkiller and ice pack, with no idea how she's going to make sure people don't get suspicious of Toph Beifong, she doesn't care why he's being nice.

"Who do you have to hide that injury from?" Hotshot asks suddenly.

Toph bites her lip. She won't give away anything else. "I can't show up to school—"

"Yeah, you said that, but you could make up a story for school. Not everyone's going to look so carefully. So who are you really hiding it from?" He presses. "Because my money's on your parents. If you go to school, they'll want to confirm your story with whoever you live with."

Toph glares. Forget being nice, she doesn't need this stupid teenager sticking his nose where doesn't belong. She can't let anyone know who she is, she can't let them know—

"I told you, brat, I'm not gonna rat you out. But jeez, quirk fighting right under your parents' noses? Pretty fucking ballsy." He lets out a low whistle, leaning back in his chair until it creaks from the weight.

"That's one word for it," Toph replies reluctantly. "No one can know I got injured like this in the ring. It wouldn't just get me in trouble, I promised Loban that I wouldn't be a risk."

"I know," Hotshot agrees. "Anyone could raise an alarm and get the Rumble shut down if they knew either of us were underage contenders to begin with."

It was the inability to confirm their ages that kept the Rumble out of trouble. Quirks could manifest in all sorts of weird physical ways, and it's not much of a stretch for a person to appear younger than their actual age, regardless of their abilities. But if Iida or one of her teachers thought for a second that she was doing something dangerous at all, they wouldn't hesitate to raise some concerns about her.

The paper cup feels fragile in her hands. Toph thinks hard, and feels the cup crumple under her fingers. "I think I have a solution," she says cautiously, picking up the roll of elastic bandage laying on the cot. Maybe she can fake an injury at school, and pass it off like that. "Help me wrap up my knee."

"What're you thinking?" Hotshot asks skeptically, even as he unrolls the bandages. "If anyone asks…"

"If I can do this right," Toph says firmly, "Then _no one_ will ask anything. Tomorrow is Wednesday, I'll get treated and I'll see you on Saturday for training." She might feel sick to her stomach in the process, but it's still true. It sounds bizarre in her head. She'd have to, what? Trip down the stairs? _Get Iida to run her over?_ Toph doesn't like that idea at all. She has secrets, but she's never had to lie like _this_. She can't put the blame on someone else…

Hotshot is quiet, focusing on wrapping up her knee tight enough for her to move around in. "And if I don't see you?"

Toph lets the breath whoosh out of her. When she first sat down on the cot to be treated, her eyes began tearing up as soon as she moved her leg. But she didn't cry. There was no outright sobbing. She doesn't do that, not at the Rumble. But she feels like crying now. "If you don't see me, that means..."

_I should tell him,_ Toph thinks randomly. Isn't there a sort of safety in telling a stranger your secrets? He has no interest in getting her trouble. But what can she even tell him? Her identity? Her suspicions about her parents? The kidnapping?

**_Do not speak of that,_** the order abruptly sears across her thoughts like a hot poker, and Toph _flinches_. "H-Hotshot," she whispers, but no other words come out. She can't breathe. _What is happening?_

"Oi, kid," she can hear him faintly, but it's as if she's trying to listen through ten walls. Through ten feet of earth. There's a bitter metallic taste in her mouth again, and Toph recognizes it as blood. She bit her tongue. _She can't breathe._

Then someone grabs her shoulder and shakes her. "Hey, Bandit, what the _fuck_ just happened?"

Toph gasps, dropping the paper cup and grabbing his shirt sleeve. "I don't know. I can't t-tell. I can't tell anyone—" she bites down hard on her lip this time, and no matter what she does she can't speak. She can't think this way. "I'm not allowed."

**_Do not speak of it._** She hadn't known how much power that order held until now. She's never tried to talk about the kidnappers before, has she?

"Breathe, kid. Just breathe for a minute, okay?" Hotshot says, rather frazzled now. "I can get Hajime back here, let me just—"

She tightens her grip on his sleeve and shakes her head. "No." She tries breathing like he said, and doesn't know why she keeps breathing so fast, but she has to calm down. "No, I'm fine."

"It looks like you're in deep shit and panicking about it," Hotshot says flatly, not moving. "And I'm definitely not the one that can help you right now."

"_Shut—up_," Toph hisses, listening hard for her own breath. And he does shut up, long enough for her to hear his lungs again and try to match his even breaths.

Soon, she can hear properly again. The pipes in the walls, the faint cheering from the ring. Hotshot's heartbeat, the cot creaking under her weight. She lets go of his shirt and he leans away from her, but he doesn't leave to find the medic.

"We're not going to talk about this," Toph decides resolutely. "Not a _word_."

And she already knows that he's uncomfortable with it. He folds his arms and gives an exasperated sigh. "It's your life, brat. You can do what-fucking-ever with it, it's not my problem."

He's not a good liar. Toph rubs her face tiredly. "I'll figure it out. And I'll come back." Nothing can stop her from coming back to the Rumble. _Nothing_.

Hotshot pats her good knee. "...Good luck," he says, as though he understands the thin line she's walking between school, home, and the Rumble. Toph still doesn't know much about him, so maybe he does.

Toph nods. "Thanks."

He's silent again, leaning back in his chair to think. "Fuck. Okay, you don't have a phone, right?"

She raises her eyebrows. "No?"

He shoves himself to his feet and rummages through the medical equipment. "Don't use this unless you have to. And don't—shit, you can't read either, you're so difficult—"

"What are you doing?" Toph demands, frowning. "I just said I'm coming back—"

"Yeah, yeah," he walks back over to her, taking her wrist. "And if you don't have a way back, then you call me." A sticky-note is pressed into her palm. "Can you read the numbers? Should be clear enough…"

It is. There's small indentations in the paper, ten digits and a few characters that are harder to make out, but still enough—

"Is this your name?" Toph realizes suddenly, because the characters don't spell out Hotshot or anything like it. "Like, your actual name?"

He huffs. "Yeah. Don't fucking use it though, don't even call me unless you need to."

"I know," she agrees softly, tucking the note carefully into her sleeve where she won't lose it. She holds out her hand to him. "But for the record, it's nice to meet you. I'm Toph."

* * *

**(Wednesday)**

Endeavor has changed. But it never really struck Fuyumi as a bad or unnatural change for her father. Not until today. What started as a simple Wednesday turns into nightmare, as she watches the Hero Billboard Chart announce that _Endeavor the Flame Hero has dropped from the Number Two to Number Three Pro Hero rank following a shockingly lackluster year of work._

It feels _wrong_.

To her left, Fuyumi hears Natsuo stop slurping his ramen to watch the events unfold. A clatter of utensils as he sets down his chopsticks. "...Fuyumi?"

Her eyes are glued to the screen, trying to make out Endeavor's expression. "We should warn Shouto," she says faintly.

"I'm here," Shouto says out of the blue, and Fuyumi tears her eyes away from the screen. Her youngest brother stares back evenly. He's standing in the kitchen, a glass of water in hand. Fuyumi ought to show him where the juice boxes are.

"He's... going to be mad," Natsuo whispers. There's no inflection of worry or fear in his voice, though, only uncertainty.

"Doesn't it feel kind of wrong?" Shouto asks slowly. "Endeavor is still reaching to become Number One."

"It's not a mistake from the Billboard Charts," Natsuo points out. "He just hasn't been on as many cases this year, has he?"

_Because he's been at home instead? Did we do this to him?_ Fuyumi wonders. But that doesn't seem right either. _His hours haven't changed that much._

"That's not what I mean," Shouto frowns pensively. "Sometimes, Dad is really set on training, and then other times he's just... not?"

Fuyumi shoots him a curious. "What are you talking about? He's got a lot on his plate, but he's always focused."

Shouto stares at his glass of water, and then shrugs. "Nevermind."

Natsuo rolls his eyes. "Anyway. He's totally gonna flip. He's fine now on TV, but the damn old man's gonna burn down the gym or something when he gets home."

"Don't call him old man," Fuyumi says instantly, shooting her brother a pointed look. "He's not even forty."

"And yet he's already passed his prime, what a shame."

"Natsuo! Don't pick a fight with Dad when he gets home, I'm sure he's already sad—"

"_Sad?_ _Sad_, Fuyumi? Quit acting like he's not an _insensitive prick_—"

"No swearing! Not in front of Shouto!" Fuyumi says desperately.

"The old man swears in front of me all the time," Shouto argues, making Fuyumi grimace. "It's okay, he doesn't swear _at_ me that much."

"Not the point," Fuyumi sighs, sinking into her seat. She checks the time. "Dad told me he has an appointment today anyway, so he won't be home for a while." _Hopefully he has time to cool off._ "Hey, Shouto, lemme show you where we keep the juice boxes."


	10. Book 2: Lightning - Seismic Shift

**(Wednesday)**

Toph doesn't even make it to school the next day. She barely sleeps, but is woken up abruptly by her nanny, ushering her into her school clothes. Toph has the sense of mind to insist she dresses alone in her room, but it takes twice as long and she can tell her nanny is already suspicious.

"Your breakfast is waiting downstairs. I'll go make your drink," the woman says through the door, and leaves for the kitchen.

"Okay," Toph replies through gritted teeth. She waits until the nanny is out of sight. She takes four steps down the stairs, and then loses her grip on the railing.

The pain is, for lack of a better word, blinding.

The last thing she hears is her nanny crying out in alarm, and heavy footsteps surrounding her.

* * *

_"—can't explain this injury, then I will be forced to fire you, Koharu-san."_

_"Please, I don't know what happened, she was fine yesterday… will call an ambulance for her—"_

_"I'll take her myself. You should worry about packing up your things, and finding a new career. Don't expect to find any more caretaker work from now."_

_"Mrs. Beifong, I-I can't afford to lose this job—"_

_"Get out of my sight!"_ Poppy's shrill voice draws Toph's attention for a moment. She's on a sofa, she's still at home—

"Mother," she calls, and can hear Poppy shift towards her. "Mom, it was just an accident…"

Cool hands grip her forearm. "Don't bother lying," Poppy says quietly. "I thought we were doing well, but… We'll fix this. We can still fix all of this."

Despite the certainty in her mother's tone, Toph doesn't feel reassured. "It's just a sprain, it'll heal…"

"Rest, my lotus," Her mother pushes her back against the cushions. "I know what this is Toph. I know. I don't know how you've kept practicing with that quirk, but it doesn't matter. You will be fine once we get to the hospital."

She wants to argue. She has to. Her mother isn't talking about her leg, but she's so tired now.

* * *

_"I'm so sorry, sweetheart."_

The next thing Toph remembers isn't the pain in her leg, but her arm. Her arm feels _wrong_. Pinched. _Burning_. Toph thrashes, reaches through empty air and seizes an arm. A loud cry tells her she's broken someone's wrist, and then everything fades again.

_"I'm sorry, I didn't think it would go this far."_

The burning isn't there anymore, but the memory of a fight tingles in her arms and face. Maybe she got punched. Maybe she punched someone. That _voice_…

"Toph, you sweet girl… I'm so sorry. It might hurt, but you can remember now."

That voice again. This time when Toph hears it, there is no fuzziness, and no question as to who that voice belongs to. "A-Aiko," Toph breathes. Her legs brush against the rough fabric of a bed. She twitches when a warm hand skates over her forearm. This can't be right. She's done with this. Aiko ended their sessions over a year ago, Toph had convinced them all—and yet.

And yet it feels as though Aiko's been saying this for a while. As if Toph has been here many times. She can smell her therapist's perfume and the scent of disinfectant in the air. "Where am I?" She asks, even though the answer is already creeping up into Toph's mind, haunting her senses. The hum of fluorescent light. The subtle drip of an IV. The rumble of life, muted by walls, just outside the door.

"This has all gotten out of hand," Aiko sighs instead, resting her elbow on Toph's cot. She is in a cot. In a hospital of some kind. "And I'm responsible for a lot of it, aren't I?"

Awareness returns with a rush of fear. "How did I get here? What did you do to me?" Toph demands, suddenly flexing her hands, her feet, straining her ears—there are tight straps over her limbs, and she can't hear much past the room. "Where's my mom?" They're alone, and Toph can't pretend any longer. "You messed with my head. My memories. Give it back." Twinkletoes, where was Twinkletoes?

What a liar. She can't remember _shit_.

Aiko gives a small huff. "I was trying to take away your willfulness, actually. For such a gentle-looking girl, you can be so stubborn."

Toph is so sick of being told how she looks.

"I'll show you _stubborn_," Toph snarls, lurching off the bed threateningly. She doesn't even given her injured knee a second thought, but it's it a tight brace now. "I'll show you you _willful_. Tell me what you're doing to me or I'll bust out of here before you can say 'delicate'."

And Aiko does not hesitate. Her heart holds a steady, quick beat. "They've been trying to remove your quirk."

Toph stops breathing for a moment. She thinks the rest of the world stops for a moment, too.

"Th-that's impossible." She draws back. "You can't _do_ that."

And yet.

All those strange words from her mother. The headaches. Her quirk acting strangely at the Rumble—she blamed it on exhaustion, she thought she had just lost her focus, but there may have been moments while Toph was in the ring and she couldn't _see_.

"You did something to me," she whispers her guess, barely remembering the pinch and burn of a needle in her arm. "My mom knows about this already."

"They know, yes," Aiko murmurs. "And I'm supposed to make you forget about it each time."

"Each time," Toph repeats weakly. "It's not working." She would be dead by now if they _actually_ suppressed her powers. Fuck, she could've died in the ring. "Who's doing all this?" Her parents are rich, not _supervillains_. She would have noticed if they had been planning this all along. "Why are they doing this?"

Aiko hesitates. "You don't need to know—"

"Of course I need to know!" Toph all but screams. "Just tell me, you'll wipe my brain after anyway!" Not that she'll let this go. Toph isn't sure if they've had this conversation before but fucking damn it, she can't forget this. She can't, she _can't_—

"I can't." The woman sounds as if she's suppressing a sob. "I can't do that, Toph, because I-I'm not going to keep wiping you."

"What does that mean."

Aiko grabs her hand suddenly, and Toph represses the urge to jerk away, instead squeezing the hand, searching for a pulse point. "We only have so much time alone, sweetheart. When I joined, I never thought I would be agreeing to the sort of experiments they do, the sort of company they keep. Amon's Vision used to be so much clearer, honey, a-and now it's run by gangsters and villains."

"_You_ are a villain," Toph says with vicious, unrepentant certainty. "You are a _villain_. You wiped my mind. You wiped _Endeavor's_ mind, too," she adds furiously, and the woman doesn't deny it.

Aiko squeezes her hand. "I-I don't regret that. There's a lot of anger in that man's head. I'm sorry I had to wipe you from it, but it's for the best." She pauses. "Not even Endeavor could stop them, Toph."

"Amon's Vision, that's just a bunch of lunatics," Toph says angrily. She knows that name, they were the ones that tried to take her. It doesn't make sense, not if her parents are involved, but when have villains ever made any sense? "If you're so scared of them, if you didn't agree with them, you'd go to the police and the heroes with everything you had."

A pause. Aiko sighs.

"I never could get you to yield, Toph," she says, and her tone is surprisingly tender. "I should've known better. You are resilient. Your quirk is too. It'll take years and years before they can really transfer a power like yours. Earth is the element of substance, after all. "

It irks her, but the turn of phrase resonates with Toph. It's a common saying among Avatar myths. She's heard Loban say it too, marveling at her strength."You believe those stories, don't you?"

She feels Aiko nod. "If you knew what I did, so would you. But I can't do this anymore. You're just a child. You all are." The fear in Aiko's voice is real, at least. "My son is your age, Toph. I've known enough minds to know I'm being irrational, but—whatever I may believe, this isn't the way. This can't be our salvation. Perhaps none of us are worthy of it anymore…"

At this point her heartbeat picks up again, fluttering as her hysteria rises and she begins to ramble.

Toph can do nothing but listen.

Amon's Vision. Quirk-suppressants. Debts, bribes, failed experiments. Nonsense, it's all bullshit to her. "You weren't supposed to be taken with those other children," Aiko says at one point. "But once you were, once they saw your potential…Your parents had a choice, just like me. But I could never make the decision they did."

That part, by far, pains her the most. Toph doesn't have much left in her to worry about her parents anymore. She keeps listening, even though Aiko doesn't make sense.

In the back of her mind, she recites a phone number.

"—But you… You, Toph. I've never met a bender like you. After seeing your mind, I don't think there are many benders like you at all. And I think if I help you escape, I might escape this fate as well."

"You're crazy," Toph mutters, raising her eyebrows. "But if you mean it, then untie me from this stupid bed."

"Part of the quirk. But enough about me. We have to move quickly." Is this Aiko lady even real? Toph's head still feels a little light. "I'm real, Toph. I can help you, but no one can know."

Toph shakes her head resolutely. "I can't just escape these people. My parents put me here. You need to help me turn them in, get the heroes involved." That's what she should do. That's the right thing.

"The Beifongs are a part of this," Aiko agrees, already reaching over to remove the IV drip from her arm. "But it's not just them."

"Who else is there?" Toph asks, tugging her arms free. "What do you mean?"

"They're everywhere," Aiko whispers, gripping the metal edge of the cot tightly. "And they know everyone."

The conviction in her voice is frightening. And Toph doesn't think she made this decision out of nowhere. This lady saw something—something so bad it frightened the fanatic right out of her system. And she expects Toph to keep her head down and let them go?

"You have to do something. Don't–don't half-ass this stupid rescue attempt," Toph regains her calm, mouth set into a deep frown.

The woman just sighs again. "I can't let them get to my family, Toph. They would kill me, they'd take Hitoshi away. I can get you out, but nothing more." But she's told Toph a lot. Surely Toph could just go to the police anyway…?

If she wants to alert the authorities, she has to be sure Aiko won't just mess up her mind on the way out.

She stands, and unbuckles the straps around Toph. Toph leaps to her feet, unsteady, and pushes Aiko's hand away when she tries to help. "Don't touch me. Don't ever touch me," Toph tells her. She wants to sound threatening, but thinks it comes out more like a plea. That's fine by Toph.

Aiko lowers her hands away from Toph. "It's not something I can stop on my own," she answers, melancholy and soft. Like her whole world is shattering.

_No._ Toph doesn't want to _pity_ her. Hell, she has her own crummy world to deal with. She ignores the woman's odd shifts in mood to ask, "Is there a phone in here?"

"By the door," Aiko pauses. "I'll check if the coast is clear—you need to go left, and take the first right towards the east stairwell. It'll take you to the back of the building, between the hospital and an office building. Get Hotshot to meet you there."

Toph is alarmed that she even knows the name Hotshot, but now isn't the time to question it. The lady's a mindreader, after all. As Toph reaches for the phone, Aiko slips into the hallway—and is immediately called over by another nurse. Toph pauses to listen.

_"Aiko-san! You're needed downstairs, th-there's a visitor for you."_

_"Can it wait?"_ Aiko says distractedly. _"I still have work to do."_

_"I don't think so, looks like an emergency!"_ The woman's voice is a bit shrill, and Toph finds it strange.

_"...Okay. But please don't disturb my patient, I'll be back soon."_

_"Oh, no worries about that,"_ the woman calls back to Aiko as she leaves. _"I've got my hands full with A-21, he's showing a lot of activity today!"_

Toph frowns. There were other people being experimented on right now, right here. How many? Was Toph the only one Aiko bothered caring about?

Her leg was still hurt, but not as badly. Her mind was clearer now, though she wasn't sure if Aiko planned on fixing all the memories she messed with. Toph can't just run away now. Not without knowing more.

She sets the phone back on its receiver and carefully stomps the ground, analysing the multi-leveled building for anything familiar. She can't tell who's on the cots scattered on this floor and the one below, but she can sense the doctors and nurses walking around. She can feel Aiko as she steps into the lobby.

And she can sense a huge, muscular man at the front desk, arms crossed and fuming.

Aiko stutters to a stop as it clicks in Toph's mind. She can hear Aiko's heart pounding erratically from a floor away.

_"Endeavor?"_

* * *

Fuyumi is expecting a storm to run through her home. She supposes that excessive cleaning is her way of battening down the hatches, at least spiritually.

It's so exhausting to watch her father get upset. It hurts her heart more than anything else. It hurts more when he fights with Natsuo and Shouto, though she hasn't seen that happen in year or two.

But anyway, back to her cleaning. If they're lucky, Natsuo will still be hanging out at his friend's house when their father gets home. Shouto… well, Shouto knows he must be upset. Fuyumi finishes with the kitchen, and goes to sort through the coat closet. She hasn't tried to sort that closet in years, it's kind of scary how much of a mess it is. But Fuyumi can certainly lose herself in organizing it, and forget everything else she has to face, so it's the perfect time to tackle that monstrosity.

And, just as she suspected, it takes ages to sort through. Soon, she's surrounded by piles of clothes, and half the closet is still on hangars. There's Natsuo's jackets—the ones he's too big for and can be given to Shouto, the ones he doesn't wear and should be donated, the ones he does wear but only on special occasions…

Wow, why does Natsuo have so many coats?

Then Fuyumi frowns. _Some of these were Touya's_. That's even further up on her list of 'Don't Think About This', so, back to sorting clothes.

It's much easier to find your things if they weren't so mixed up with everyone else's jackets… Well, maybe not for her, since her jackets were mainly pastel colors… Hm, it'll make more space if she takes out the winter coats, they don't need those yet.

As she tugs a big raincoat out of the closet to straighten it, something clatters to the floor.

Fuyumi blinks, reaching down for the plastic rectangle. She turns it over in her hands, and is thoroughly confused by the picture in the little frame. At first, it looked like Mom was in it, but the woman's hair was lilac, not white. _I think I've seen her before,_ Fuyumi wonders. _But why is there a family portrait of her in the house?_ It was a woman, a man, and a young boy that looked very much like the two of them, with purple hair and violet eyes.

Just then, the front door unlocks. She looks up and Enji is there, slowly taking off his shoes in the mudroom. "I'm home," he announces flatly.

Fuyumi looks back at the raincoat in her hands, and then the picture frame. "Dad? Do you know these people?"

Perhaps he hears something unusual in her voice, because Enji's head snaps up. He looks kind of dazed rather than angry. Fuyumi's sure he's had a lot of bad press to deal with already, and doesn't need to be bothered with this, but something about the picture frame unsettles her. She offers him the photo.

Enji's eyes go from scrutinizing Fuyumi's face to the mess of coats all over the entryway to skimming over the photo in her hand. "What the hell is all this?" He says, not quite reaching annoyed but surely on the way towards it. He reaches for the photo, nonplussed.

He blinks a few times. His face goes slack.

"Dad?" Her eyes fall to his hand, holding the picture frame. There's a tremor running through his arm now. "Dad? Dad, I'm sorry, it just fell out of your coat?" But he doesn't look mad. Fuyumi has no idea how to describe the expression on his face, only that it's no expression at all. Like a trance. That worries Fuyumi even more. Tentatively, she puts a hand over his, lowering the photo from his face. "Are you okay?"

After another agonizing moment, his blue eyes focus on her again. And there's no mistaking the look of anger on his face now. Fuyumi draws back, and Enji holds onto the photo.

"I'm fine, Fuyumi. I need to go out." He steps back to the door, pulling his work cellphone out. "Thank you."

_Thank you?_ Now she's sure something's up. Her dad doesn't thank anyone! "F-for what? Dad, are you sure you're alright?"

"Take care of your brothers," Endeavor calls back to her—and he's in Endeavor mode now, she can see it in how he's stomping around, how his fire-beard flares up every once in a while. This is so weird. _He's_ so weird, he never talks this much to Fuyumi. "I don't know how long this will take."

The door shuts firmly behind him.

Fuyumi stares, bewildered. She still has his raincoat in her other hand.

"So," a voice says from behind her, making Fuyumi shriek in surprise. It's only Shouto, of course, and he doesn't look the least bit sorry for startling her. "Does that mean we can have soba for dinner?"

* * *

"_Endeavor?_" Detective Ito, dressed in nurse's scrubs and a badge with the wrong name, stares at him in polite surprise. "What's all this about?" She asks innocently.

But Enji knows better. Hell, she knows it too. Her face might look calm and innocent, but he can see the dawning dread in her violet eyes. His gaze darts from her to a few other nurses in the lobby. Some are busy, but others pause to gawk at the Number Tw—Number Three hero in their hospital. Fuck, he wasn't prepared for that little announcement. It rocked him to the core, to find out he had _fallen_ a spot in the rankings. And then that picture—that _fucking_ picture, he could barely remember taking it but he did—

_Rain, humid and chilly at the same time. A woman chatting beside him. Tarrlok out of prison, paperwork in his hands. It was a spur of the moment thing, amongst a million other thoughts in his head—there was a turned-over picture frame on Ito's dash, and he swiped it because he was naturally suspicious and angry and confused at the burgeoning conspiracy in his hands._

Two. Fucking. _Years_.

He's sure Amon's Vision has grown since then. He's sure, because some of the so-called medical personnel around them are watching warily, anticipating something others know nothing about. He's prepared for that.

"It's over for you. If you come quietly, it'll be better for everyone," Endeavor says steadily, holding back the rage he feels for this backstabbing maniac.

The woman offers a pretty, bemused smile. "I don't understand."

"Don't make this difficult, Shinsou. You know what this is." She flinches at the sound of her real name, and Endeavor steps forward. "_Umeko Shinsou._ You're under arrest. Don't make me list all the damn charges."

She steps back, her facade crumbling. It looks like she's caving. But there's a 'doctor' on her left that looks furious.

"I…" Umeko looks frantic now. Her eyes dart around, realizing what this is culminating into. "I'm sorr—"

And then the lobby bursts into motion. A doctor charges from the front. A screech from his left indicates another target shooting out a stream of razor-sharp water his way.

Endeavor lifts a hand and everything _burns_.

* * *

People are screaming now. It's chaotic, but Toph has enough sense to know it's a fight between Endeavor, a handful of heroes, and crazy bag of lunatics.

And Toph _can't leave._ How can she just run away now? But the faint hum from the phone line beckons her. She wants this to be over. She wants to see Hotshot and fight in a ring with Quillfish and the others. She wants to... to...

There's a tremendous crash from the floor below her, hard enough to knock her off her feet. All around, medical supplies are clattering and smashing and people are wailing—kids are crying. _Kids_ are crying. _Inasa is crying._

.

.

.

Toph bolts out of the room, staggering around other people. One or two of them address her—someone grabs her, and she bites their hand so hard she can taste blood. Inasa is crying. He's across the hallway. She can remember his so clearly now, she knows his voice better than anyone else's. The door is locked. Her knuckles bruise, split open, creak and snap alongside the metal lock—

"Twinkletoes?!" She yells at the boy, who's tripping and gasping as he climbs off a cot.

He's on the floor, and makes an awful wailing sound. "Toph?!" He chokes out, and she wraps herself around him, tugging him to his feet. "S'that you? What—it _hurts_—"

Inasa is too big for her to carry, but she hugs him and drags him towards the door anyway. "We gotta go, they're fighting downstairs!" Not that Toph knows where they'll go, or who can even be trusted. Her stomach churns in unease, wondering how Twinkletoes could've gotten stuck in this place too. Wondering what they've done to him.

"You're here," he wheezes, and man is he out of it. They're both out of it. Her hands hurt like a bitch, her leg does too. "You're—_here?_"

"No shit, Inasa, now help me out and _stand up._"

It's a struggle. She's never felt so exhausted before, and Inasa's heartbeat is sluggish and freaking her the hell out. But he stands up, breathing heavily, and they shuffle into the hallway again. And then they're immediately spotted by a nurse.

"What the fu—_stop_! You two!" She shouts, garnering the attention of two others. Toph lets go of Inasa to stomp on the ground, uncaring of the delicate tiled floor, and punches out the first nurse without blinking an eye.

Holy moly does it hurt, though. Another person yanks her by the hair, and she cries out—Inasa yells too, being dragged away by the other person. "Let me go!" Toph screams, twisting around his grip. She claws at the man, catching his cheek, and then there's a sharp pain across her face as he back-hands her.

"Toph!" Inasa gasps, "No, stop it! _Stop it—_"and then he abruptly goes quiet.

The man holding Toph staggers backwards. The woman holding Inasa freezes. "No way..." she mutters, teeming with excitement.

A rush of wind brushes Toph's face, and the whole building seems to be trembling. Rattling. She can hear pipes screeching in the walls, on top of the frenzied fight happening on the floor below them. The wind whips past Toph suddenly, and the two adults are blow off their feet. One crashes into a wall and moans. The other hits an elevator and crumples, silent. Toph tries to feel for Inasa, but he's not there. The wind blows harder, circling around where Inasa once stood.

"Twinkletoes?" she calls to him, confused.

When Inasa finally speaks, it's with a voice that sounds like a hundred people at once. It's a bellow of anger and power the shakes Toph to her bones. It's the voice of something much more than Inasa.

**_"ALL OF YOU—WILL BE STOPPED!"_**


	11. Book 2: Lightning - Aftershocks

_"Reports are flooding in as Cato Hospital, a privately owned medical facility in the Saitama prefecture, continues to be evacuated by local authorities. According to some sources, the private hospital was the center of a massive conspiracy, spanning years and several cultist organizations, the most prominent of which was thought to be expunged over five years ago—**Amon's Vision**, the fanatic-turned-terrorist-cell many still remember as being responsible for devastating attacks in Japan and many other mainland Asian nations…._

_"...We're receiving footage now of Endeavor, the Flame Hero, who lead the raid. Questions are already stirring as people wonder about the judgement to enter the hospital so brazenly, as it's unclear what methods were used in securing any civilians and patients that may have been caught in the crossfire. Still, this is what the Flame Hero had to say when our crew member on the scene questioned him:"_

The screen flips to shakier footage, a blue-haired man holding a microphone up to reach Endeavor's face. The hero, carrying two small figures, scowls, and rears back so the camera can't see the victims clearly.

_"Endeavor! Endeavor, were you the one to recommend a raid of this proportion on such short notice? How did you find out that AV was still active, despite its leader being put away years ago? What caused the explosion on the second floor that destabilized the whole building?"_

_"Get out of the way,"_ Endeavor growls, shaking with exhaustion or anger. _"For Kami's sake, I'm in the middle of a rescue here. The Hero's Association will hold a press conference later."_

_"Who are those children? Are these patients caught in the crossfire, or were they part of the cult—?"_

Endeavor shuffles the kids so he can hold them with one hand, muttering a litany of censored curses. The footage is blurry, but the victims are clearly young children. With the other hand blazing, Endeavor reaches towards the camera and the footage cuts off with a fizzle.

Hitoshi flicks to the next channel, and then the next, but it's all the same for another hour until new information is dispensed—the list of villains captured and killed.

A part of him already knew it, though.

_"Among the dead is one of the most infamous villains of the decade, **Puppetmaster**. Though known by many aliases, as her quirk allows her to manipulate the thoughts and memories of those around her, it was Endeavor that finally uncovered Puppetmaster's legal name: **Umeko Shinsou**. In the firefight that followed The Flame Hero's confrontation with AV, Puppetmaster and several other high-ranking members of AV were killed—"_

He knew it the moment she died, because it was like a fog lifting in the distance. Hitoshi began to wonder when Mom would be home, like he's done a million times—but this time he wondered what she was doing, what kind of work she did, because he couldn't for the life of him _remember what her job was_.

The TV clicks off. He drops the remote aside, and a smoky gray paw immediately pounces on his free hand. Hitoshi looks down at the cat blankly, automatically going to pet her glossy fur. He isn't sure what's supposed to happen next.

"Hitoshi," his father calls. His voice is strained, but he crouches by Hitoshi to speak softly. "Come put on your coat, we need to go to the police station." The door's already open, and beyond it he can see two uniformed officers waiting.

Dad looks tired. More than usual. Besides that, he doesn't give anything away. Hitoshi swallows the lump in his throat long enough to ask in an uneasy whisper, "Did you know?"

He's greeted with a blank, silent stare. "Let's go, Hitoshi," Dad repeats more firmly. "Please."

* * *

It's in the early hours of the next day that Shouto finally hears the front door open, and someone shuffling into the house. He's awake though, having been abruptly startled by his own memory sometime that evening and unable to shake the feeling of dread all night. He has no idea why he's suddenly thinking about the time he was kidnapped, or the two kids that he met that day—but it's been two years since then, so why didn't he think of them sooner?

Something feels wrong about it, and when he tried explaining it to Fuyumi she just frowned in worry and told him to wait for Dad to come back.

So he waits. And waits. And waits. Shouto doesn't bother checking the news, because his old man is always in the news anyway, and the last time he checked it, it was a bunch of talk shows talking about the Number Three ranking. But maybe he should've been checking the news.

That way, he wouldn't have been so shocked when Endeavor finally did get home—him, and a very familiar girl.

"_Toph?_" Shouto examines the girl in confusion, standing up from the kitchen stool he's been waiting at. His father flicks on the lights, frowning at Shouto. Toph is limping, wearing grey and white sweats that swamp her figure and a black brace over one knee.

"What are you doing up?" Endeavor grumbles, but Shouto ignores him, getting a closer look at the girl.

"I remember you. Are you okay?" Shouto asks bluntly, because she looks stiff and uncomfortable and tired as Endeavor.

She opens her mouth, only to close it and bite her lip. "Shouto…" she sniffles, and there's a tear running down her face now.

Alarmed, Shouto looks to Endeavor, but he resembles an exhausted deer in headlights. Endeavor raises a hand and makes a quick gesture towards Toph, mouthing the words '_Do something_'.

_Really? That's all you can think of?_ Shouto gives his father a dark, disdainful look before stepping towards Toph and pulling her into a tentative hug. She returns it with full-force, squeezing the living daylights out of him, but her sobbing ends pretty quickly.

"I missed you," she says into his t-shirt. "Everyone _forgot_, didn't they?"

Oh. Well, things are beginning to make more sense now, at least. "I missed you too," Shouto responds obediently, but it's also the truth. "Even if I didn't remember, it felt like something was missing," he admits softly. She squeezes him harder, but it doesn't bother him. There's a question on the tip of his tongue, about the other missing piece, but Shouto finds himself scared of what the answer could be about Inasa Yoarashi.

He hears footsteps on the staircase, and Natsuo appears, yawning loudly and rocking some wild bed-head. "What's all the noise, huh? Oh." He blinks at the scene before him, and Dad sighs. "Um…?"

"Go back to bed, Natsuo. Shouto, you too. We can talk about this in the morning." Enji decides, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This is Toph, she'll be staying with us until the paperwork goes through for her new guardians."

Shouto is still young, but he can tell that this is far different from the usual rescue work Endeavor does. There has never been cause for the pro hero to volunteer his own home to a victim, and even if there was, Endeavor wouldn't be the first choice for any guardianship role. Despite being in the Top Ten for most of his career, Shouto's family has never been a part of Endeavor's spotlight, before or after Mom was sent away.

But one look at the old man and Shouto understands. He's never seen Endeavor look so raw and unsettled before. Something went wrong during that kidnapping case two years ago, and Endeavor felt responsible for it. Shouto doesn't let go of Toph.

"Where's she going to sleep, then?" Natsuo cuts through the silence, and there's a laser-sharp focus to the gaze he settles on Endeavor.

For a moment, it looks like physical pain flashes across the hero's face, but it's gone even quicker than it came. He looks down, beginning to pull off his jacket and undo the highest button on his rumpled dress shirt. The only reason he'd have changed clothes in the middle of the night would have to be for a press conference, and Shouto makes note to find it online tomorrow. "We have an empty room, don't we?" Endeavor says finally.

That's true enough. Shout has to admit, he hasn't thought much of the room, nor the person that used to live with them. He _left_ them, after all.

A variety of emotions flicker across Natsuo's face, before he settles on forced calm. "I don't think that's right," he replies tersely.

Enji blinks up at Natsuo, annoyance emerging in his eyes, but Shouto cuts in before they can start anything. "Let's put another futon in my room, then," he decides, leaving no room for discussion. That's how Fuyumi often cools down the room, though her track record of successfully doing so isn't the greatest.

Luckily for Shouto, it's three in the morning and his earthbending friend—and she _is_ his friend, he knows it in his bones even if they only had a handful of hours to know each other—is still clinging to him like a baby koala bear. There's nothing left in any of them to argue further, not when everyone can feel the gravity of the situation in the air. Shouto doesn't even know what happened, but it feels wrong to snap at each other right now. Natsuo and Enji slump like puppets with their strings cut, and murmur their acquiescence.

"I'll get the futon," Natsuo volunteers.

"I'll get the sheets… Where the hell do we keep the sheets?" Enji grumbles. "Do we even _have_ sheets…" he mumbles.

Natsuo rolls his eyes. "Go to bed, _Number Three_, I'll handle this shit."

Enji doesn't even try to snap at him. He just shuffles upstairs in silence.

* * *

If you're wondering, the answer is no.

Enji Todoroki has _no_ idea what he's doing.

The next morning he wakes up and checks his phone for any updates on the Yoarashi boy or the Water Hose team, whom he's recommended for Toph's new guardianship, but there's nothing. When he reaches the kitchen, later than he normally would for breakfast, he comes across all the kids at once and it's really, _really_ too early for this.

Fuyumi, the goddamn godsend, is making omelets. There's already coffee made—though it looks like Natsuo decided to take most of it, and since when is he even old enough to _like_ that stuff?—and the earth girl and Shouto are arguing over… Enji doesn't know, rice versus rice noodles. Nonsense.

At least no one's crying their eyes out anymore, he knew that earth girl was made of tougher stuff. She had been so meek the night before while giving her account.

"Morning, Dad," his daughter greets him with a small, wary smile. Her eyes keep darting over to Toph and Shouto, but he assumes someone filled her in before he got up. "Your omelet is next—or do you want omurice? I can do that too—"

He quickly waves off her incoming rambling. "Turn off the stove, sit down. I said I'd talk about the situation, but I'm only doing it once."

When Fuyumi's settled between her brothers, Enji crosses his arms. The three Todorokis look up at him expectantly with a series of gray and blue eyes, while Toph pushes rice around on her plate, starkly different with jet black hair and wearing a paisley shirt from Fuyumi. He can tell by the solemn look on his youngest son's face that he already knows most of the story, but Enji ought to get them all on the same page. No point in dragging this out.

"When Toph and Shouto were kidnapped, the case was wrongfully closed. The villain group responsible kept to the shadows with the help of a mind-control quirk. That was the woman you saw in the photo," He nods to his daughter, who looks startled at being addressed. "They were experimenting with elemental quirk users, mainly by drawing blood and testing drugs without the user's knowledge in order to give and take quirks from them."

"Except for Inasa," Toph interrupts him flatly, reaching for a glass of water.

"Yes," Enji continues. "In some cases, victims were kept for weeks at a time for testing, still without anyone noticing any issues. The whole hospital was part of the conspiracy, though not everyone inside knew it. Toph's parents were involved with the organization, and they were especially persistent in keeping her from using her quirk or speaking of the kidnapping. But that's over now. The victims we found have been monitored for any drugs in their system, and are being released to their families as we speak. I haven't heard any updates on your friend yet," he adds, seeing the girl's mouth open to ask.

But that's not enough to sate her, and she glares into empty space. "Inasa's gotta be fine by now, the doctors said he just overused his quirk. There's _no reason_ to keep him there any longer."

Well, at least she's back to arguing with him. For a while it seemed like she would never speak again. "We're not sure what they did to him. We know that he demolished the second floor of the hospital, but he has no recollection of how, and we have no live witnesses to—"

"_I_ was there, you ignorant dumpster fire!" Toph retorts, turning to face him properly (and making Enji retract all previous concerns for her). "There wasn't anything unusual or unnatural about it! He lashed out with his _air_ quirk, he was scared and hurt and he doesn't deserve to be treated like a science experiment because you dunderheads _can't take my word seriously!_"

"_Be quiet_," Enji barks, already feeling a headache forming. "The boy will be monitored for a while longer, and then his parents can take him home. Stop jumping to conclusions, girl."

"Don't call me _girl_," she says shrilly. She snaps a finger out towards him, pointing right between his eyes. "I have a name, and you better not fucking forget it again!" Ah fuck, her eyes are all watery again. "Toph Beifong! Inasa Yoarashi! What the hell have you been doing all this time, _you flaming cheeto?!_"

He bats her hand out of his face, nostrils flaring. "Stop interrupting me, you're being _childish_," he snaps, inwardly wondering how long she's been building up the fire insults for.

"_I am a child!_" She shrieks, pushing herself to her feet. "So why was _I_ the one to find Twinkletoes? Why was _I_ the one that had to deal with that heartless bitch, Shinsou, ripping away _anything_ that still mattered to me, while you and the heroes wandered around like _headless chickens_ for two years?!"

For once, Enji is speechless. He searches her livid face for some sort of answer, and finds none. While she has every right to be angry, Enji can't fathom why it'd be directed solely at him when she _knows_ he was brainwashed too. They were all caught off-guard, and there hadn't been a way to get her the help she needed while Puppetmaster and the other leaders of AV were pulling strings alongside her own parents.

Ah. The _Beifongs_.

Enji looks at Toph with new eyes. She had been resisting for two years just for the right to use her quirk, and her parents were to blame for it. All that anger, anger that Enji is intimately familiar with, and he was standing in front of her, recounting the whole mess to her face. It's not like she'll have the opportunity to confront her folks any time soon, after all.

He always thought her temperament resembled his own. And there's only one outlet for himself that works. Enji takes a deep breath, putting his hands on his hips. "That doesn't matter now. You still have your quirk, don't you?"

The turn in conversation throws her, but she's no less enraged when she spits back, "You bet your flame-beard I do!"

"Follow me," he says curtly, and without waiting for an answer, makes his way to the spacious courtyard at the center of the house. He strides over to the far side of the complex, and the girl comes to a stop at the other end, already understanding what he's offering. "_Show me_, Toph."

"_Dad_," Natsuo hisses to him, as if no one else will hear it, "What the _hell_ are you doing? She's nine!"

"Shouto's sparred with me plenty of times," Enji addresses all of them at once. Fuyumi is immensely uncomfortable, and Shouto looks vaguely concerned, but Toph is still standing with a menacing scowl on her face. He wouldn't do this out in the open yard with Shouto, but it's no different than how he trains his son. "She'll be fine."

Thanks to what Shinsou did to him, he isn't concerned for Toph, and neither should any of them.

"That's not an excuse either!" Natsuo exclaims, glaring between the two of them. "This is _not_ the way to—"

Before he can even finish the sentence, Toph punches a solid brick larger than her head straight for Enji, and he breaks cleanly through it with a burst of flames. The force of it, however, makes him stumble back farther than he expected. He'll have to put more power into his moves.

He looks back at Toph, who's already shifted into a fighting stance. "Rules?" She prompts him bleakly.

"Keep it contained. It ends when you give up." Enji expects the next attack, leaping aside from the earthen pillars jutting up around him. He takes a stride closer and a wall erupts right in front of his feet, but he's already rearing back to pummel through it.

The wall crumbles easily, and as he draws a fist back he can see Toph shifting again, but there's no new attack—save for the squeeze of gravel over his arm, all remnants of the thin wall, snuffing out his flames. _Containment_. A good move against an emitter like himself. Enji grunts, dragging his free hand over the stone to release himself, and a burst of dust explodes around him, blocking his view. Two more stones sail towards him, and he dodges one and deflects the other—and gets walloped in the back when she pulls back on the first rock he dodged.

He foregoes his arm to clear the air forcefully, driving Toph to protect herself with another stone wall against the expanding fire, and takes a moment to ask, "Have you fought against fire before?"

"Don't jump to conclusions!" She sneers right back. Sheaths of rock jet towards him from her shield, and Enji knocks each one aside, striding even closer. The rocks bleed away from his hand as his flames reignite, and he punches through the last of her defense while she's still behind it, throwing her off her feet and flat on her back.

"Get up. You can handle this," he goads.

With a snarl, she shoves herself back up and makes a sweeping arc with her arms, throwing all the rubble straight towards Enji from all angles. "I can handle _anything_, no thanks to you!"

It's like the rubble is magnetized to him, and a particularly large rock smacks his ear before he centers himself and expels them all with another forceful burst of fire. "I never suggested otherwise." He catches another huge brick coming for his chest, exploding it to bits with both hands.

This would end a lot quicker if he actually attacked her indiscriminately, but that wouldn't solve anything. She's panting now, every move sloppier and more powerful than the last, but she's not trying very hard to subdue him. Enji's pretty certain, for once in his life, that he can read this kid like a book. _This is a tantrum._

"Shinsou is dead, Toph, she can't hurt anyone anymore." He tells her out of the blue.

"Wha—I _know_ that!" Another volley of rocks. Well, he's gotten tired of looking at the same old courtyard anyway. He vaporizes the rocks without a second thought, marching closer.

"Inasa will be fine, he's not going to disappear," Enji adds.

"I _know_!" She lifts a hand again but Enji reaches her first, twisting the arm behind her back and pinning her to the ground in one smooth motion.

"Your parents can't hurt anyone either," Enji continues resolutely, crouched beside her. She struggles, and it doesn't take much more pressure for her to realize it's entirely futile against someone his size.

He's close enough to see tears glimmering underneath her long bangs. "You can't promise that," she mutters, jutting her chin upward—and sending a series of pillars into his side to knock him away.

The pillars aren't strong enough to push him, though. It only makes Enji buckle. He places his free hand against her head to prevent another attack. Her leg is still injured, so she won't be trying to move it as much. "I can promise it because they're facing charges now. They will see justice. You don't have to see them ever again if you don't want to."

"That's even shittier," she gripes, letting her head press against the stone. "They're my _parents_! Why did they try so hard to change me?! They're not supposed to get _taken away_! They're—they're supposed to do _better_ than that!"

"Having an answer won't change what happened, kid." Though in all likelihood the Beifongs won't face much prison time, if any at all, and it would be Toph that gets taken away from them for negligence. "No point crying a river over them."

"I'm not crying!" But it's pretty obvious she is doing just that, and Toph grows silent, breathing heavily as more tears track down her cheeks. Then she squirms. "Get off me," she demands.

Enji shakes his head. "I told you the rules. Give up."

"I _don't_ give up!" She declares angrily.

"That's a good mindset for a hero," He answers evenly. "But you need to give up for now." _Give up on your parents_ is what he really wants to say, but Enji is hyper-aware of his own kids watching this debacle, and he's done enough bullshit already to drive one out of their home. "I'm not the one you're mad at anyway."

Toph is silent again, forehead pushed against the ground and eyes squeezed shut.

"None of it is fair, Toph. But this is _pointless_."

And she caves. "...I yield."

He releases her immediately, and she pushes herself onto hands and knees. Finally, his kids enter the ruined courtyard, wide-eyed. Fuyumi crouches at Toph's side, rubbing her shoulder silently. Natsuo walks away, and _that_ stings more than the boulder Toph threw at his back.

Shouto steps up to Enji, mismatched eyes boring into him. "I'm sorry," Enji says belatedly, eyes darting between Fuyumi and Shouto. "I know you liked the courtyard how it was," he adds, though that isn't what he feels sorry about at all. He glances around the destruction, frowning at the damaged flower beds. He's certain there had been a type of flower grown here that Fuyumi and Rei liked.

"Hey," Natsuo calls from the edge of the yard, settling Enji with an even, indifferent look. "Are we gonna finish breakfast or what?"

It wasn't much in the end, the manipulation Shinsou used on Enji. Besides altering the case history for AV, all she had to do was make him relive Touya's last training lesson over and over again, unable to dismiss the memory as anything other than _his own fault_. She might be gone, but he won't shake the vile thought for a very long time. It changed him. But Enji doesn't want to think that anything good came from Shinsou's crimes, and he'll never acknowledge her influence at all.

Hell, he even dropped a _rank_ because of her. And somehow, he feels stronger than ever.

* * *

When Toph finally gets to see him at the hospital, Inasa grins hard enough for Toph to hear it in his voice. "You're back! I missed you so much, you look different now!"

She arches an eyebrow, skeptical. "C'mon Airhead, I don't look that different."

"You're _smiling_ now," he points out cheerfully, swinging his legs over the edge of his cot. "And you did get a little taller, I swear!"

She is smiling, she hadn't even realized it. Toph punches his shoulder lightly. "Ouch!" Inasa exclaims, undeterred. "See? Y'got stronger too!"

"So have you," She replies, leaning on the bed. He's pretty much ready to leave the hospital, with no more monitors or needles poking him. "Quit growing, would ya? You're stupid tall as is."

He laughs, though it doesn't have the same ring as before. "I can't help it! Mom says I could get as big as _Endeavor_ if I keep eating the way I do!"

Toph hums, shaking her head. "Endeavor says I'm going to be living with the Water Hose team now," she says suddenly.

Inasa pauses in surprise. "Well that's _awesome_, Toph! You're part of a _hero family_ now!"

She picks at her fingernails. "But I don't _want_ another family."

He's quiet, digesting her words thoughtfully. "I don't think they'll mind that."

"But _I_ mind it," Toph huffs, crossing her arms. "Why'd it have to be them, huh? Why'd I have to be born to a family of _evil jerks_?"

He leans against her side. "There isn't a reason. You didn't _choose_ this, neither did I. I mean—" he sucks in a wavering breath, "I didn't ask for it, but they did something to my quirk."

Outside, Toph can hear the murmur of the Yoarashis talking to Endeavor and a physician. She lowers her voice to ask, "Did they really do it? Make you into the…"

He exhales a huge gust a wind, enough to rustle the blinds and tangle up Toph's bangs. "There's no such _thing_. You can't just _make_ one." He skirts around using the word. "Nobody knows what's changed. And I'm not about to test out any earthbending, _that's_ for sure." He shakes his head briskly. "But that's not the point. Point is—is—okay, um. We don't have a lot of choices," he throws up his hands. "Family, crazy villains, yada yada. But we're _friends_. We _chose_ that part. So that's the part I care about. That's the—that's what still counts. I could still remember you, even when I didn't think I did."

Of course, Toph already knew they were friends. Knew they'd always be friends. But finally being next to him, hearing him say—it's a lot more relieving than she expected. It felt good when Shouto told her too. "You remember what we promised each other, right?"

He wraps an arm around her, giving a quick squeeze. "We're gonna be the _greatest heroes_ together. See? That's our choice too. Nothing else matters as much as that."

"Okay," Toph agrees, leaning into his hug for a second longer. Then she pushes him away with a huff. "Alright, enough mushy stuff!" Inasa chuckles. "C'mon Twinkletoes, let's get out of this stuffy hospital."

"No arguments here!" Inasa agrees, hopping off the bed.

His feet hit the ground with more force than usual, firm and solidly against the tiles. Toph knows he just claimed that he doesn't know what the experiments actually did to his quirk, but to her it feels like...

Well. They can talk about it another day. They have time, now.

* * *

Toph moves in with Miyuki and Kano Izumi, otherwise known as the Water Hose duo, three days later. They're a young and cheerful couple, and Toph is fine with living with them under the circumstances that she gets to stay in contact with Inasa's and Shouto's families.

"We'll make sure they get plenty of playdates!" Mrs. Water Hose exclaims, beaming at Enji and Shouto. "It might take time before Toph makes any new friends, so it's good to know she can still rely on the Todorokis!"

Man, Miyuki can be so sugary-sweet sometimes that it makes Toph wanna barf. She drags a hand over her face, embarrassed for herself and for the Todorokis.

"_Right_," Endeavor agrees with palpable sarcasm. "_Playdates_." She thinks he might be flaring his nostrils too, like a crotchety dragon.

"I still wanna hang out," Toph puts in her stubborn two cents as they say their goodbyes. "Shouto's my friend. And Natsuo, he's funny."

"Hey, what about me?" Fuyumi complains, twirling a finger around a strip of red hair. "I thought we were getting along fine!"

Toph pouts. "You keep _lecturing_ me. I don't need another preppy professor-type bossin' me around!"

"We'll try to keep in touch," Endeavor compromises, ignoring her.

"You'd better!" Miyuki laughs. "You've got loads more practice than us at this!"

They part ways, and it doesn't feel nearly as awful as it used to. Natsuo voiced his doubts earlier about Endeavor actually allowing Shouto to quit training long enough to play with friends, but Fuyumi insisted she'd make it happen. And the Izumis seemed eager to let her see Shouto whenever they had the time for it.

Besides, Toph knows where the Todorokis live now. Endeavor might not know it yet, but he _definitely_ can't stop her.

* * *

**_SIX __MONTHS __LATER_**

Hitoshi is half-asleep on the train, already exhausted at the thought of facing more stares and whispers about his name at his new school, when things go to shit. By shit, he means that the train screeches to an abrupt stop, and he yelps "_Shit!_" when his forehead smacks painfully into the metal pole he was holding for support and everyone in the train is jerked forward.

There's a gasp of surprise to his left, and Hitoshi reacts instinctually to stop the girl next to him from toppling to the ground. She grabs his arm back, steadying herself against the metal pole, and her head whips around in bewilderment.

_I think she's blind_, Hitoshi notes absently, rubbing his head. She doesn't have a cane or anything, but her eyes are pale green and unfocused. "You alright?" He grumbles.

"Yeah," she says over the growing murmur of the crowded train car. People are beginning to panic. "How's your head?"

"I'm awake now," Hitoshi answers sourly, not bothering to ask how she knew when the sound his head made against the metal pole was _quite_ clear. She responds with a brief grin. He takes a moment to look at the uniform she's in, beneath the woolen coat she's wearing. "Do you go to Okubo?" He asks suddenly.

"Yeah?" She says blankly. "Why?"

"I... go there too," Hitoshi explains haltingly. "You're wearing the same uniform as me."

She looks surprised for a moment, and then she gives a sly grin and teases, "Is that so? Y'mean you're wearing a dumb skirt too?"

He snorts. So she is blind, then. "Of _course_ I am. Stockings and all."

She snickers, a wide smile crossing her face. "Do you think we'll…" but her question trails off, and her head cocks to the side. Then her eyes widen, and he's yanked down by the shoulder.

"_What_—?"

There's an awful, rumbling, screeching, tearing noise above them. The windows shatter. There's a light breeze through the train car that wasn't there before. When Hitoshi opens his eyes, the ceiling's _gone_. In the distance, there's a seventy-story monster flinging the metal roof of the train at a building. He blinks slowly at the sight. "Am I still sleeping?"

There's a tug at his arm. The girl's eyes are still unfocused, but there's urgency in her expression. "We have to move, Snoozles!"

He stumbles after her as she pushes towards the exit. "_Snoozles_?" He repeats, affronted, but she doesn't respond.

Someone's already gotten the door opened but people are swarming to get out. Hitoshi shifts his arm so he's holding the girl's hand more securely, and after a few suffocating, freaking-out-just-a-little moments, they're free from sweaty businessmen and breathing fresh air. Hitoshi takes the time to savor the lack of human stench and vow to take his bike out more often to appreciate how clean the air can be.

He glances at the blind girl, still holding his hand. Her face is tilted towards the battle, quietly focused on the distance roars. "I think the whole city's being shut down for this," Hitoshi catches her attention, eyeing the traffic jams and police barricades ahead. They walk away from the tracks, onto the grass through a side exit along with the other passengers. There's a few policemen ordering some people into evacuation points, but they're far enough from the fight that things aren't too hectic.

"So, no school then?" She quips lightly, releasing his hand.

"Probably not," Hitoshi muses. However, as much as he was dreading school, he doesn't want to trek back home to an empty apartment either. He scuffs his shoe on the ground idly, debating the best course of action.

A phone buzzes next to him, and he watches the blind girl answer it. "Hey Izumi-san. No, the trains were stopped before I could get there. I'm with another student. Uh…" she pauses for a moment, "We're near Kouta's daycare, I can walk from—_no_ I'm not staying at the daycare, that's so _lame_. I'll go home. Good luck." She ends the call and nudges Hitoshi. "Y'got somewhere to be? Let's get food."

Surprised by the offer, Hitoshi blinks down at the girl. She seems about the same age as him, though quite short in comparison and apparently old enough to carry a cellphone. Her hair is jet black and combed into a sleek bun, held back with a green headband with tiny pom-poms on either side. Her face is dainty and porcelain white, and there's a tentative smile on her face. She's… _delicate_. She's the last person he'd expect to be so calm in a huge villain attack, and yet there she is, waiting patiently for an answer while he can hear a full grown man sobbing hysterically under one of those emergency blankets.

"Don't you need to get home?" He hedges. Is it that easy for her to trust him, because he told her they go to the same school?

She shrugs. "Yeah, but no one's gonna be home till this evening. What about you?"

"My dad's working all day," he admits, scratching the back of his head. Man, he couldn't get a comb through his hair this morning, but at least this girl won't notice that. "I don't have much money on me, though."

"I can pay for you," she offers hopefully. "And if you wanna pay me back, well, I could always hunt you down at school." Her smile turns a little vicious at that.

Hitoshi raises an eyebrow at her. "Jeez, you sound like a gangster," he mocks her, but the offer is tempting. What else is he supposed to do all day, wait around in a safe zone? Plus, what's he gonna do when she asks for his name, and then recognizes the surname of a recently-killed villain? What if she just gets spooked and runs away? What if she goes back to class tomorrow and spreads more rumors about the villain kid with a brainwashing quirk?

"Ugh, you're taking too long, Slowpoke," the girl exclaims, hooking her arm around his and jerking him forward. He almost loses his footing, she's so forceful. "I can't bum around all day, let's go!"

Hitoshi doesn't argue.

* * *

It takes a week before Toph realizes who Snoozles is. He's quiet around her, doesn't acknowledge her at school—they're in different classes, and Toph is busy enough trying to do well for once in class. They hang out after class, by the park or just sitting next to each other on the train ride home, because they're some of the few younger students that travel on their own. It just never came up, asking more about each other. Snoozles is snarkier than her, and there's a billion other things they can talk about beside themselves.

It's the whispers that give it away. First, it's the mention of '_Shinsou_' around the classroom, the villain's kid. Which made Toph feel weird, but she wouldn't go out of her way to find him. Endeavor kept her and Twinkletoes out of the news coverage, so no one knew she had any involvement with the Cato Hospital raid. The Beifong family was known among the elite students of Soumei, but Okubo Elementary was a public school. No one paid her more attention than she wanted, and she was grateful to the Izumi family for choosing the place.

Then she overhears a few people goading Snoozles into using his power, asking him to do random shit. _"Careful, don't answer him! You never know when he might brainwash ya!"_

Her stomach churns unpleasantly. Someone in her class asks if she's alright because her face goes pale. It's been months since she moved in with the Izumis, and they're quite kind. If she asked to switch schools it wouldn't be a big deal to them. But that's stupid. It's just a stupid coincidence that she met Snoozles to begin with.

Still, she doesn't make an effort to find him on the train that day. But after two stops she can hear him shuffle over to stand near the same exit as her. "There you are," he says lightly, elbowing her. "You're so short, it took me _ages_ to find you."

"Ha, ha," she rolls her eyes, but then she doesn't know what else to say. She just chews on her lip. Snoozles isn't anything to be scared of. He's a _doofus_. He likes _cats_. He's never doubted her abilities because she's blind. He's never said a _thing_ about her blindness, and that means a lot to Toph.

He shifts beside her. "You found out," he says flatly, but he's rigid as a board, giving away how apprehensive he must feel.

"Is it that obvious?" Toph mumbles, picking at the hem of her jacket. "Yeah, I overheard some people at school."

Snoozles seems to sink in on himself. She can hear his heart rate pick up too. "I—I figured this would happen. You don't have to worry about my quirk, I would never use it on you or anyone for fun—"

"I don't care about your quirk," Toph interjects, her brow furrowed in thought. She really doesn't. Even if he has a brainwashing quirk, he's never done anything to make her think he'd use it now. "It's just…"

"Just _what?_" He asks tersely. "Just that I might _use_ it? Just that my family's already got a shitty record, so you can't be too cautious around me?"

"No, _shut up_," Toph snaps, turning to him. "I mean…" No, she can't tell him she was one of Puppetmaster's victims. She hasn't told _anyone_ since switching to Okubo. Toph huffs, annoyed at herself. The train slows, and the exits slide open to Snoozles's stop.

"Forget it," he mutters, moving to leave. "I won't bother you."

Toph's mouth is open, but no words come out. She snaps her jaw shut with a frustrated growl, and marches off the train just behind him. "Hey!" she barks, catching him by the sleeve. "That's not what I meant."

He snatches his arm back. "Whatever. I get it."

"No you don't," she argues right back. "Stop jumping to conclusions."

"What, y'need me to _brainwash_ someone for you? I don't do that either—"

She punches him in the arm, hard. "_No!_"

"_Ow_, what the heck was that for?!"

"Stop being dramatic, I said I didn't care about your quirk!" Toph shouts. She can feel the travelers around them pause and murmur at the sight of them. "Would you just—come on, let's go to the bike trail," Toph decides, gripping him firmly by the sleeve of his jacket.

"Why?" Shinsou demands suspiciously. "Maybe I don't want to!"

"_Cry me a river_, you big baby!" She retaliates, tugging harder. "We're _going!_"

He sighs, and follows.

By the time they reach the trail, Shinsou's heart has slowed considerably, but he's still tense and quiet. Toph isn't dragging him anymore, and crosses her arms when she faces him.

"So."

"_So_," he repeats dryly, crossing his arms as well.

"I think—I think we should actually tell each other who we are, now." Toph starts slowly.

He scoffs, kicking a few rocks off the path and leaning against the trunk of a large tree. "Sure thing. I'm Hitoshi Shinsou, son of Umeko Shinsou the _freaking_ Puppetmaster. I can brainwash people."

Toph nods, centering herself. She can't buckle now. If anyone deserves to know more, isn't it Shinsou's son? "I'm Toph Beifong. I'm an earthbender. A few years ago, my parents hired your mom to brainwash me, so now I live with the Water Hose hero team."

He stops what he's doing to look at her. "What?"

She nods again resolutely. "I was at Cato Hospital when they raided it," she whispers. "I haven't told anyone about it besides the heroes in the case."

"They kept all the victims' names out of the press," Shinsou muses.

"My parents were able to keep their name out of it too," Toph adds bitterly. "Endeavor's still caught up in the defamation case they filed against him. But they were complicit in all those crimes." Shinsou lets himself slide down, until he's sitting in the grass against the tree. "So I don't blame you for not telling me your name. And calling you a villain because of your mom would be hypocritical."

"Oh," Shinsou answer eloquently.

"Yeah," Toph agrees, huffing to herself.

They're both quiet and unsure for far too long.

"It sucks talking about this." Shinsou hums in vague accord, still hunched over with his arms wrapped over his legs. Toph holds out a hand to him. "Can we race or something? I've had it with the dramatic backstory stuff."

"_Please_," Shinsou agrees, letting her pull him to his feet. He dusts off his pants, and takes a deep breath.

"First one to that maple tree?" he asks, and then he just starts _running_.

Toph shrieks, trying to catch up. Stupid long legs. "_I don't know which one is the maple, you jerk!_"

"Cry me a river!" He shoots back at her.

* * *

_A/N: __Here it is, some much-needed resolution. I can't make my hero kids suffer any longer. There might be one more chapter of 'Book Two' before we move on to the really fun stuff—UA! I miss the rest of the hero kids! I want Iida back, I couldn't fit him into this chapter! I NEED TOPH TO DRAG BAKUGOU!_

_Tell me your thoughts on this chapter, I hope it's a satisfying resolution! Was Endeavor's attempt to Dad good enough? Are y'all ok with Inasa Might-be-the-Avatar Yoarashi? Was it too contrived for Toph to meet Shinsou? It felt contrived but I wrote it anyway._

_NOTE: I should make it clear that Endeavor basically goading Toph into a fight is NOT a constructive way to parent, it's just his attempt. In the long run, Toph can't deal with problems this way, but she's nine. She really be out here having a tantrum._


	12. Interlude: Seasonals - Winter

She's never been around adults like the Water Hose couple before. Miyuki is bubbly and sweet, but not overwhelming to be around. Her presence isn't stifling or fake, the way Toph's nanny was. Or Poppy. And Kano is sure and patient. He wasn't around as often while Miyuki was on maternity leave for Kouta, but now that they're both back to full-time work, Kano splits his time evenly to look after Kouta. He's gentle and silly around his son, but he doesn't belittle Toph.

They give Toph distance, because it's what she asked for. They give her help when she asks for it too. The one downside to living with them is the same as it was with the Beifongs—she can't practice her quirk freely. But unlike her own parents, the Izumis compromised with her when the issue was brought up: she started taking martial arts lessons to hone her fighting skills, and she can use her quirk at home if there's a trusted adult around to watch her.

And, luckily for Toph, Enji and Fuyumi Todoroki both count. (Fuyumi turned seventeen recently, and she's honestly more of an adult than Endeavor and the Water Hose duo _combined_).

Ever since Toph demolished half their courtyard, the yard space in the center of the Todoroki household has been re-done into a proper practice area. Well, half of it. She and Shouto were allowed to practice their quirks as long as they didn't touch the hedges and flowerbeds that had been shifted over to surround the small pond and tree on the western side of the yard. Toph felt a little guilty over all the hedges she'd torn up, but at least she hadn't gone near the pond.

Still, it's no Quirk Rumble. Toph has to keep her structures to a manageable size, and she can't dig very deeply into the earth for substance—otherwise she'll hit one of the metal tubes or wires down there, and probably flood the house.

Shouto, on the other hand, _thrives_ in the open yard. "I only practiced with my dad before this," he explains breathlessly, pressing his left hand to his ice creations to melt them down. "And only in our training room. He wants me to fight the way _he_ does, and he's way stronger, so it's—it's never fun."

Toph thinks fighting is _always_ fun, especially going against someone bigger and stronger than herself—but she kept her mouth shut about it. She's yet to ask Shouto about his oddly reserved opinion of Endeavor, and Natsuo's loudly negative opinion, but now's not the time for it.

"Well duh, Endeavor's not as cool as me," she says instead, lightening the mood with a smirk. She's spread out on the ground like starfish while Shouto melts his ice, lazily leveling out the yard with as few movements as possible.

"You're not cool, Toph," Shouto denies with a careless half-shrug, and Toph arches an eyebrow in suspicion. "...You don't even have _ice_ powers."

Toph digs a hand into the earth and flings a clump of dirt at Shouto. It doesn't make contact; he freezes it in mid-air and it shatters on the ground between them. "I rest my case," Shouto says solemnly.

She sticks out a tongue. "You're getting faster."

"Or _you're_ getting more predictable—" he flash-freezes her foot to the ground before she can leap up and tackle him.

"Hey!" Toph yelps. "That was _cheap_."

"You made me fall on my face the first time we did this," Shouto replies evenly. "Don't talk to me about _cheap shots_." Ugh, he's always so chill, it's impossible to rile him up before he ends up riling up Toph…. _Chill_. He is the cool one, isn't he?

"I buried Twinkletoes alive the first time we met," Toph replies threateningly.

"No wonder you're so popular," Shouto muses dryly.

"You Icy-hot bastard!" Forgetting herself, Toph takes a swipe at him with about as much grace as a puppy—and he just freezes her other foot, and scampers away. Toph squeals in horror. "It's COLD! _Augh!_"

Forced to give up on attacking him, Toph focuses on disrupting the earth beneath the ice to break it up. By the time she's done, Shouto is sitting by the pond, silently shaking. It takes her a moment to realize he's trying not to laugh out loud at her. "Jerk," she huffs, sliding to sit beside him.

"You're the jerk," he shoots back in a mild tone, elbowing her. "What do we do now?" Shouto prompts, not for the first time.

Every time they've hung out he's asked her this, allowing Toph to bulldoze onward to another activity of her choice. She knows he's never really been around other kids besides herself and Twinkletoes, and he's always uncertain about what they should be doing besides training. She'd give him the option to choose, but Shouto is, for lack of a better word, _uncreative_. He never has any good ideas. Though to be fair, Toph doesn't have many hobbies outside earthbending either.

Toph rests her chin on one hand, thoughtful. There is one hobby that Shouto has, one interest she shares with all her friends. "Let's check the news for heroes," she decides, and she can sense the way Shouto perks up at the idea.

"I haven't heard anything about All Might in a while," he agrees, getting to his feet. Toph rises as well, and begins to walk away when Shouto takes her hand and gently pulls her in the opposite direction. "Wait, Toph."

"_Hey_! I know where I'm going," Toph frowns instantly, resisting him. "Your room is this way."

Shouto shakes his head. "Yes, but Natsuo left his laptop in the dining room," he says by way of explanation.

She can feel her face color at his words. "Oh. Right." Toph follows, annoyed with herself.

"I wouldn't try to guide you unless you asked for it," he tells her placidly, squeezing her hand, but it does nothing to erase Toph's chagrin. "You obviously hate it."

"I know…" Toph scowls to herself.

"So don't snap at me," Shouto suggests idly. "There's no reason to fight. I'm your friend."

She exhales noisily, plopping down at the dining table next to him. "S'hard not to. Everyone assumes I need help, all the time. Even the Izumis do it."

"Is it so bad that heroes want to help you?" Shouto asks. "Or your friends?"

His question reminds Toph of Tenya Iida, someone she's avoiding thinking about for a while. When it came down to it, there was nothing that terrible about Engine Legs, even when he nagged her. If they could start over, Toph thinks they would be friends, especially because he came from a hero family. "No," she admits sullenly. "But I don't want people to assume I'm helpless. I'm _not_."

Shouto hums in acknowledgement, but doesn't respond. He boots up the laptop and begins typing on it. Toph scoots on to his chair when he offers her an earbud. Inasa's too big to share a chair with, but it's easier to split the earbuds if she sits closer to Shouto. She makes sure to stay on his left side every time, and it's a lot more comfortable that way.

They listen to news broadcasts and a few old interviews they've already seen, commenting here and there. Sometimes they're loud and excited about what they're watching or hearing, but there hasn't been much news about All Might since he fought with Toxic Chainsaw. Shouto reckons he's working abroad for now, and Toph suspects he's either doing undercover work or testing out equipment at that super isolated island lab, because even when Japanese heroes work in Asia or America, they're in the international news.

"What if he's _injured?_" Shouto wonders suddenly, a sliver of genuine worry worming into his tone, making Toph lift her head from her hand. "I can't tell if any of this is recent news."

"Shouto… that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." She hears him tsk in annoyance, but Toph doesn't care. She flicks his forehead. "But you're right, none of this is new. What's that samurai guy doing? I like him."

"Yoroi Musha," Shouto echoes, typing again. "Oh, he stopped Mego-Volter on Monday. That's interesting, isn't his armor conductive?"

"Uh, yeah, it's a steel-based alloy," Toph says slowly. She'd be more interested in this if she hadn't just been throwing rocks at Shouto for two hours. Now would be a good time to just lay around and do nothing. "Any press release about it?"

"There's an analysis video..." Shouto clicks on it, and oh, Toph knows she's gonna fall asleep. It's from a vlogger that has the most soothing voice on the planet, the kind of voice meant for nature documentaries and lullabies. She doesn't protest his video voice, though.

They're both asleep before the analysis reaches the climax of the battle between Mego-Volter and the hero. She wakes up briefly for dinner, then Natsuo carrying her, and again when Shouto drags her futon over to his left side, and the rest of the day is spent in peaceful quiet.

* * *

Enji returns to a quiet home, something he didn't expect while Beifong was supposedly visiting. Fuyumi intercepts him with a timid smile as he takes off his shoes. Hm. If Fuyumi's home then they must be in the house as well. He frowns at his daughter in question, and she points wordless upstairs.

Still doesn't explain why Beifong isn't being obnoxiously loud. Shouto is the quietest Todoroki, but he has a bad habit of provoking the earth girl into a tirade, Enji suspects, just for shits and giggles. "What are they doing?" Enji finally asks, watching Fuyumi suspiciously.

The fair-haired girl just shakes her head, refusing to give up any more information. So, Enji climbs up, closely followed by his daughter, now vibrating with joy and unable to hide it. Fuyumi has always been very open about her emotions, and while it was annoying when she was a toddler, Enji finds new appreciation for it—his sons are closed books in comparison, and let themselves simmer until they're ready to blow a gasket.

As they approach Shouto's room, Fuyumi puts a finger to her mouth—he wasn't talking anyway, but fine—and carefully slides the door open.

_… What?_ "Why are they—?"

"_Shush!_" Fuyumi smacks his arm, though there's no force behind it.

Enji looks at his phone, checking the time. It's nearly seven o'clock, and they're ten, too old for naps. There's no reason for them to be sleeping. "Fuyumi—" he tries again.

"Ah! Gimme your phone!" She gasps quietly, holding her hands out and wiggling them. "Quick!"

He hands it over, not really understanding her urgency, and she immediately flips to the camera function to take pictures from various angles. "_Hey_," He frowns, snatching the phone away. For Kami's sake, how did she already take _twenty_ photos? "Stop it. Why are they sleeping?"

"They're tired," Fuyumi says it like it's obvious, eyes wide. "They practiced for longer than usual, Natsuo and I had to carry them up here." Enji just gives her a look, making it perfectly clear that he disagrees, but Fuyumi just ushers him away and back to the kitchen.

"You can't let them fall asleep whenever you want, 'Yumi," Enji lectures, crossing his arms. He flips through the photos on his phone idly, deleting a few blurry ones. Shouto's turned over to show only the white half of his hair, and Beifong is wrapped around his left arm like a koala, zonked out completely. It's… peaceful. Like puppies after going to a park. Regardless, Enji shakes his head. "They're too old to be sleeping together like this."

"I don't think so," Fuyumi reveals quietly, her brow furrowing. "Maybe it should stop in a year or two, but right now it's just cute. Natsuo thinks so too."

"Hm," is all Enji says in reply, looking back at the photo. Fuyumi makes a small noise, and when he looks back up at her, she's covering most of her face. "_What_?"

She puts her hand down, revealing a wide smile and glistening eyes. Another downside to Fuyumi, she's often overemotional. "Oh, you just didn't disagree with me. They _are_ cute, aren't they?" She presses eagerly, a new gleam to her turquoise gaze.

Enji takes note of her keen expression, which is quickly evolving into a knowing grin. _This is a trap._ "They're just sleeping," he states neutrally, glancing at the photo again.

"Then _delete all the photos_," his daughter suggests brightly, holding out a hand, and he unconsciously moves his phone out of her reach. There's nothing sweet at all about the grin she wears now. "I'm sure Water Hose won't want to see them, if it's _not_ cute."

Send cute photos of the kids to Beifong's parents? That's the last thing in the world Endeavor would do and Fuyumi knows it. "What do you want from me?" he demands, distrusting the look in her turquoise eyes. It's odd to see Fuyumi so… smug.

It occurs to him a moment later that he's already admitted to himself it's a cute photo. Stubbornly, Enji decides that Fuyumi won't hear him say it.

She shakes her head, relenting. "Nevermind, Dad. Send me the photo, please?"

"Fine." It was her photo anyway, as far as Enji was concerned. And his daughter knew better than to post it anywhere public. He sends it, and then puts his phone down to scrounge the fridge for leftovers. They have a cook in the house, but they're rarely all home at the same time to eat together, and Enji prefers being alone. The only reason their personal kitchen gets used is because Fuyumi likes to bake.

"_Oh_. Dad…" Fuyumi calls, holding back a giggle. "W-wrong chat."

"Wrong what?" He frowns, glancing at Fuyumi's amused face. "What do you mean? I sent it."

"Yeah, but," She shows her screen as several more messages pop up beneath the photo. His phone is lighting up too, but he has it on silent. "This one's with _Natsu_."

He scans over the series of messages, frown deepening. There's a lot of exclamation points and capitalization. Enji sighs. "Where's Natsu right now?"

"He was at soccer practice," Fuyumi twirls a finger around a lock of fine red hair. "Must be on his way home now." She steeples her fingers together, deeply amused by this all. Fuyumi mostly owes Rei for her good looks, and they're similar in temperament. But when Fuyumi focuses her bright blue eyes on him, there's an inherent fierceness in her, and it's hard for Enji to look her in the eye when she wears an expression so similar to his own. "Natsu's going to nag. Do _not_ let him get to you."

"_Me_?" Enji gives her an incredulous look. "_Natsuo's_ the one that takes things personally." Fuyumi seems doubtful. "I won't wake them up," he promises, just as his phone lights up again. This time it's a notification from Miyuki Izumi.

_Endeavor! They're so cute! I'm framing it 3 3_

Beneath it is the photo, of course. And then a photo of her infant for good measure. "_God damn it._" It's only been a few minutes. He didn't even _know_ Natsuo had Izumi's number.

"What happened?" Fuyumi probes. He passes over his phone to her without a word, and gets back to putting together a meal for himself. By the time he looks back at her, Fuyumi's expression has crumbled into a gooey mess of affection. "_Aw, Dad, he's so cute!_ I remember when _Shouto_ was that little…" She spills into a rambling story of baby cheeks and tiny toes, tugging on the silvery ends of her hair like she can't handle her own sweetness.

He eats at the table, letting Fuyumi continue to talk at him. She doesn't seem to mind that he doesn't respond, but he does slap her hand away when she tries to take his tempura. Now that he thinks of it, that's one of the reasons he won't eat around her or Natsuo, they think it's okay to take from his plate. That and Fuyumi has a motor mouth when she gets going, but he'll ignore it for now.

Just as he finishes his food and Fuyumi begins to wind down, the door slams open to reveal a sweaty thirteen year old with a moon-glow grin. "OLD MAN! THAT'S THE CUTEST SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN."

"Be _quiet_," Enji barks at his middle son, hoping to smother his enthusiasm before it can start annoying him.

But Fuyumi adds fuel to the fire instead, squealing, "They're still sleeping!"

"_NOT ANY MORE!_" Toph bellows from the second level, stomping down the stairs. "_You icy jerk!_ _QUIT YELLING!_"

There goes his quiet night.

* * *

_A/N: __Figured I needed to show Toph and Shouto spending some quality time together. Endeavor gets some development too, because I just want the best for my icy hot boy. I don't care how much of an asshole canon Endeavor is, he sure as hell thinks all his kids are cute. They're all beautiful and I love them. Natsuo's smile is a gift to mankind, Fuyumi can do no wrong, and I would die for Shouto. Sooner or later my version of Endeavor will feel the same damn way. _

_Also, I'm aware of how little this chapter has to do with winter. I dunno, it takes place in February? The majority of the characters have ice powers? Close enough for me. Let me have this theme._


	13. Interlude: Seasonals - Spring

When he finally lays eyes on that blind girl again in April, more than two years since she stopped showing up at the Rumble, he feels…odd, murky emotions he doesn't want to label. Surprise, he can say that for certain. Frankly, he didn't expect to ever see the Blind Bandit again.

Privately, he'd convinced himself she'd died or something worse.

"It's you," Toph says in breathless wonder, like she's greeting a top-ranking hero or a pop star. She's lankier now, but still pretty short for her age. She looks better than before, though, not pale and terrified—her whole face is flushed pink from running to catch up to him, and she grins genuinely at him.

No one that could see his face would ever smiles like that at him. For Kami's sake. This girl really is still oblivious. He scratches at his irritated jawline, frustrated. She's still a tiny punk of a fighter. "Yeah, it's me. The hell're you doing here, brat?" He frowns at the deserted street they're on, and at the grimy alley he was about to walk down. "How'd you even find me?"

He didn't think it possible, but she smiles wider, pointing to her ear. "I could hear you from a block away. I don't forget voices," she steps closer, brow furrowing. "I never got to call you about what happened."

Touya blinks down at her, bemused. Has she really been feeling guilty about it all this time? Granted, on worse days he felt a little responsible for not doing more, but he had no way of knowing if she needed help. Seeing her now—she's fine. That's enough. Case closed. _A phone call sooner would've been appreciated, but fine._

He turns around, walking towards the wire fence separating the alley from the next street over. "You don't owe me an explanation," he says flatly. Toph follows him. What a gullible kid. What kind of idiot follows a guy like him into the back of an alley? She really has a skewed sense of danger.

"Well, sure I do," Toph replies, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "I bet Loban would've liked to know too."

Loban, that tiger-mutation guy that ran the Rumble. He lets out a sharp exhale through clenched teeth, letting his back fall harshly against the wired fence. Toph's head tilts in curiosity at the sound. "Yeah, maybe he would've, I dunno," he says crossly. The girl waits expectantly, eyes facing him rather directly. Touya turns his gaze upward. "I found a better paying gig a while ago. Before they got busted."

The fighting ring bust was in the news recently, so there's no surprise at the statement. Still, he sees the girl's face shift, with a downward turn of her lips. He expects a demand from her, maybe anger or annoyance for dismissing it all so easily. Instead, her expression smooths over. "Are you okay, Hotshot?"

His jaw clenches reflexively. "No one calls me that, Bandit," he says tightly, looking at her shoulder instead of her open, innocent face.

"I'm just Toph now," she counters softly. After a moment, when he's unforthcoming about his name or anything else he's doing now that he's out of the Quirk Rumble, Toph leans against the fence with him and explains. "I don't live with my parents anymore, but I haven't changed my surname. So it's Toph Beifong."

"Toph," he repeats nonchalantly, but it brings a small smile to her again. "The Beifongs, that's a Chinese family. They're pretty well off, aren't they?" Not that he's surprised her parents were assholes. Wealthy people get away with everything.

She nods, picking at dirt under one nail. "Yeah, they're filthy rich. That's how they paid for a whole hospital of quirk experiments without anyone knowing."

_Quirk experiments._ He definitely remembers reading about that raid. "Cato Hospital?" Toph nods timidly. That would mean her folks were fanatics, and hated all quirks. "You were there for the raid?"

Again, the girl nods. She never took any of the prize money she earned. And she always said she liked the Quirk Rumble for the freedom it gave her to hone her quirk.

Touya swore to himself he wouldn't care about this dumb blind brat once she stopped showing up to the Rumble, and it's been years since then, but… _Is she really okay after all that?_

"What the _fuck_, Toph?" He asks instead.

"I'm okay now," she promises, as if reading his mind. "Endeavor raided the hospital before I could escape on my own," Toph continues blithely, ignorant of the way the name sends a rush of electricity through his veins. "I got sorted with a foster family, and I've been with them ever since. If that hadn't worked out... I would've ran away like you."

_Endeavor._

Touya can't help it as his fingers dig painfully into the sensitive skin of his forearms. "Hm," he says in response, unable to articulate a more coherent answer without releasing the white-hot resentment scorching through his mind.

Suddenly there's a different pressure on his arm, and he looks down to see Toph's hand, small and firm next to his own.

"You never answered me," she points out. "Are _you_ okay?" Her hand drifts to his wrist, and she bites the inside of her cheek as she traces the warped path of scars forming. "You shouldn't be using your quirk like this, Touya." The name tears at him the same way his quirk does

He can't stand it. He can't stand the look of honest confusion and pain on her face. "Don't call me that," he says evenly, pulling his hands out of her reach. "Don't ever use that name. I don't wanna hear it."

"I won't tell anyone," she says indignantly, but that's not the part that bothers him. He knows Toph wouldn't give his name to the police or anything. "I promised not to, and I haven't. There's probably a good reason you ran away. But if you didn't want to be called Touya you shouldn't have told me at all."

She's an idiot. He flexes his fingers irritably. "Whatever. It's not like we'll see each other again."

"Why do you think we won't?" She shoots back, almost sounding defensive. Hurt.

"Because you're a brat," he snaps, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You're a _normal_ brat now. Me? I was never normal. Never—never up to his standards." He taps a foot on the ground, and a shred of anger crawls back into his tone. "I'll never re-enter society like you, with a brand new family. I don't belong in that world, and I never did." He eyes her sharply. "Besides, you probably want to become a _hero_ with a quirk like yours—you like fighting too much to give it up. You can't be seen around me."

She chews over his statement quietly, hands sliding back into her pockets. "Well, none of that erases what happened," she finally settles on. Touya stares. "We trained together. I don't do any of the illegal stuff anymore, and I _am_ going to become a hero, but that doesn't mean it never happened." She cracks a wry smile. "At the very least, we're ex-coworkers, don't ya think?"

Touya stares. And stares. "You're a _dumbass_, Toph," he grumbles, dropping his arms to his sides. "A real piece of work. Fucking _co-workers_, like we both had shitty retail jobs or something…" Touya buries his face in his hands with a moan that quickly devolves into slightly-hysterical snickering. "Fuck. _Fucking shit._ You're crazy."

"I dunno, _you_ sound pretty fucking loopy right now," Toph crosses her arms loosely, expression wary. "You won't even answer a question properly, but _I'm_ the piece of work, huh?"

"Yes," Touya confirms. "You _are_ a piece of work. Because if you had even a shred of self-preservation, _you wouldn't have followed me into an empty alley._" He gestures sharply through the air, not caring that she can't see it.

She gives him a look. "You're not going to hurt me."

"Not _now_ I won't," Touya concedes. _An idiot pass,_ he thinks sourly, _that's all this is_. "If I see you again, though? All bets are off."

She scoffs, like she's calling a bluff. "I think we established a while ago that I can kick your butt. What's the big deal?"

He scowls. "You don't see it."

"No shit, I'm blind," Toph quips back.

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Kid, I'm—I'm not in the Rumble anymore. I got kicked out for nearly smoking someone, and then I found work that pays more and cares less about how I do it."

"So?" She presses on, not even blinking when he admits to nearly killing a man.

"_So_," Touya repeats, painstakingly. Fucking hell, this is like pulling teeth. Does he really have to spell it out for her? He really doesn't want to. "I'm running errands for a broker. A _loan shark._ He deals with all types of shitty people, and I have all sorts of shitty tasks to do."

"Okay?" Toph frowns, still skeptical.

"I'm—shit. _Shit_. You're making this so _difficult_." He snaps. _Just leave already._

Toph throws up her hands. "Am I? You're the one acting all—_squirrely_."

"_What does that even mean?!"_

"You know what it means!" Toph explodes. "Touya, you _asshat_. If you can't even admit you're a villain, _you probably don't want to be doing any of this_." Her glare is directed somewhere near his chest, but her brow furrows in worry. "I asked around for you first, through other fighters. Quillfish told me what you've been up to." She shifts from one foot to another, uncertain. "It took a while to do all that, and I could've left it as is, but I wanted to see you myself."

So she knew. She already _knew_ the shit he was digging into, and she still ran after him. You can't get much stupider than that. Touya straightens up and shoves her backwards abruptly.

"Hey!" She yelps in protest, nearly falling over.

He shakes his head. "Get away from me, kid. You wanna be a hero so bad, you should be far away from me as you can get." _Is that what this is?_ He thinks wildly, _She thinks I need saving, that she's capable of handling what I am?_

"You can't tell me what to—"

He activates his quirk violently, feeling his skin scream in protest, and throws a handful of flames between them until she's forced to move far out of reach.

"Touya," she says quietly, and finally, finally, there's a hint of fear in her. Good. It's worth the dull ache in his arms. "Stop it."

"I told you to go. Leave, you idiot," he growls.

"No," she barks, and with a shift of her foot, the stones dotting the ground of the alley overturn in a wave of neat ripples, smothering the blue flames. In the back of his mind, he does admit she's gotten better. She stays a few feet away from him, glaring. "You're hurt. Quit pushing me away, I can help."

"Worry about yourself, Toph." He mutters, opening the fence up and sliding behind it. He melts down the door frame until it's fused together, careful to not let the heated metal touch his skin. "You already tried helping me."_ It's not your fault I'm like this._ "If we do meet again, I won't be this nice."

"...Fine." Something in his tone seems to hit the mark, because she relents, taking another step back and dropping the emotion from her face. "I'm sorry, Touya," she says at last, though he doesn't have the slightest idea what she needed to apologize for. She takes another step, and then walks away.

* * *

Her brief talk with Hotshot bothers Toph for a long time, even though she feels some level of satisfaction from being able to find him at all.

Toph dreams about it sometimes. Not in a wishful, yearning sort of way, but as a hypothetical 'what if' that explores the choices she's made to get to this point. _What if she'd left everything behind and ran away?_

She would still live away from her parents, which was her greatest concern, but it would be different. No cushy house with a baby, no school, no friends her own age. But the other fighters liked her a lot. She didn't have to worry about quirk laws or showing too much strength for a girl of her size and age. Everything she did would be of her own volition, and there would never be an adult around to take that independence away. Maybe she'd be slumming it in the streets, but maybe she'd also make a bunch of money from the Rumble instead of having to beg Loban for a chance in the ring. And yeah, sometimes those thoughts spill over into her actual dreams at night, and it becomes so vividly real and honest that Toph wakes with a start, questioning whether or not she really did call Touya.

Last night was one of those nights, and Toph is in a fog all morning, all day in class, right up and continuing her thoughts on the train ride back from school.

_I didn't call_, she reminds herself. And she's… not any better or worse for that decision. After seeing Hotshot for the first time in over two years, it's obvious that things are different—and if Toph truly wanted to get back into fighting, it would take a lot more work than strolling back into the underground arena. (Loban got busted, but as soon as one ring closed, another would emerge). Hotshot had moved on, and Toph expects that most of the other fighters had too—Quick Slice, Omega Bomb, Bunny Babe, Stendhal, Quillfish, Reel Pop… dozens of other names she could list from her time in the ring—a few of them caught in the police bust—but people came and went as easily as businessmen used a train station. Whatever traction she gained would have to be re-earned, and it… it wasn't worth it anymore.

She's _happy_ here. She has Kouta and his parents. She has Fuyumi and Natsuo and Endeavor. She gets to see Twinkletoes and build friendships with Shouto and Shinsou.

Speaking of Shinsou, he saved a seat for her in the crowded car, and she gives him a quick nod before sitting. He tends to be in his own fog each morning, and didn't mind her silence on the way to Okubo, but he's much more conscious by three o'clock. "Hey Beifong," he greets her lazily, running a hand through his hair. "I was thinking of heading to the bike trail..."

"Uh huh," she replies, not really hearing him past 'bike trail'. Hitoshi Shinsou is one of the people she's never have met if things had gone differently.

If Toph hadn't been saved that day, would Shinsou's mom still have been caught? Endeavor raided the hospital of his own accord, but it seemed to Toph like that lady, Aiko, had been falling apart already.

Regardless of all that… Toph misses Touya and the way it used to be. She misses the rush and the risks she took in the Quirk Rumble. The fun and danger so intertwined they were one and the same. The cheers from a crowd that respected her. She earned all that on her own, no help needed. It was a different life, but to Toph, it was a perfectly valid one. Touya is the only person that might've understood that, but he's moved beyond it already. Her time in the Rumble wasn't bad. If she'd stayed, would Touya have stayed too?

Is she supposed to forget it ever happened?

Toph has no idea what kind of repercussions there would be if the Izumis or Endeavor knew where she learned to fight. Shouto might keep her secret, but she's certain it would change the way he acted around her. Inasa would certainly be upset—he's been awfully strict about his own quirk usage these days, and dislikes it when she puts herself in danger. She's been meaning to broach the subject of his (changed?) quirk, but Twinkletoes is a tornado all on his own, and difficult to pin down. Talking about the Quirk Rumble with him would be doubly impossible.

Finally Shinsou shakes her shoulder, unceremoniously dragging her attention back to him. "Beifong, better tell me now if you're blind _and_ deaf," he says mockingly, and Toph slaps his hand off with a scowl. "Oh, she lives. Welcome back."

"What?" She throws back, instantly going defensive when she registers his tone.

"I said I'm going _biking_, on my _bike_. Wanna come with me?"

Her nose scrunches in distaste. "What kind of question is that? I can't _bike_."

He flicks one of the pom-poms on her headband, and Toph slaps his hand away again. He's not a very tactile person on his own, so she knows he's doing it to annoy her. "I mean you can ride with me, there's space to stand on the back wheel—" Toph is already shaking her head in horror at the thought. "—don't give me that, it's not even dangerous—"

"It's a _bike_, I can't steer or do anything but hold on—" Shinsou gets to his feet, tugging her up by the strap of her backpack as the train rolls to a stop. Toph stands with him and they step onto the platform, still glaring. He's being cheekier than usual today, forcing her full attention to deal with his antics.

"How's that different from a train? You still ride trains—"

"—Trains are _necessary_, this is your _terrible_ idea of a fun time—"

"—it _is_ fun, you're just being a coward, Beifong," he says pointedly, but there's a levity to his tone that makes Toph suspect he's grinning like an asshole too.

"I'm not a cowar—" and then her head goes a little foggy. She shakes away the daze and realizes they're at the very beginning of the trail, and Shinsou is rolling a bicycle towards her.

_Oh, that bitch._

"Are you kidding me?!" Toph gripes, glaring at an approximation of where his head should be and continuing as if he never paused the conversation for his own nefarious purposes—_biking_. "Where's my bag?" She demands. He's not carrying his backpack either.

"Left it at my place. No point carrying around even _more_ dead weight," he teases, and Toph narrows her eyes.

"I'm not riding that thing," she spits out, regarding the bike like she's being asked to cuddle a Komodo dragon.

"You're already here, you might as well try," Shinsou cajoles, knowing full well that's entirely his doing. "I'll go slow, you won't fall off."

Toph punches him in the shoulder for the brainwashing. He's done it before, with and without her permission—it's different than Aiko's, unnerving and invasive but not something she's worried he'll actually _hurt_ her with—and while it's annoying to be caught so easily by it, the bigger issue is the metal and rubber contraption before her now. "I ain't afraid of falling. This is just—stupid. You're stupid."

"It's fun," He says evenly. "I won't _make_ you do it, but you did want to hang out today." He holds out a hand to her. "C'mon, _coward_."

Her nostrils flare, and Toph's mouth presses in a thin, furious line. Asshole, goading her like this. _Toph can't refuse._ She takes his hand and lets him instruct her how to balance on the bar across the back wheel. There's very little room, and this can't possibly be safe. Her hands find his shoulders for support, and she squeezes him until he winces. "I better not regret this, _Snoozles_."

"You're still using that nickname?" Shinsou asks under his breath. He begins to push on the pedals and they drift forward. "So childish, Beifong."

"I'll call you whatever I want, _dick_."

He pushes them to move faster, and Toph lets out an involuntary squeak as she's pulled forward. Shinsou laughs wickedly. "Oh my god, that was _cute_, you're like a kitten—_ow_, shit, don't pull my hair!"

"Don't call me _cute!_" Toph threatens, but her voice is tight and high, and sounds more like a whine.

"We'll crash if you keep that up, _kitten_," he cackles, and then they both yelp in fear when he swerves the bike, but Shinsou's scream devolves into laughter while Toph just focuses on not slipping off the tiny metal bar saving her from disaster.

Trees whiz by, rustling in their wake. It's different to hear bugs and plants rush by, compared to the hum of buildings and people and machinery when she's driven through the city. The gears and chains clink in a softer buzz beneath her trainers, and she can still sense the ground rumble under the wheels, though she can't tell much about what lies ahead.

"How far do you plan on going?" Toph asks, trying to relax. They're moving pretty fast, and they'll blow past the farthest they've walked on this trail soon.

"You might be a faster runner, but I've got more endurance. I could do this for _hours_," he brags, and Toph just rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, not happening…" Toph snipes back, spitting hair out of her mouth. She likes the sounds in the bike trail much more than the city, she's just hearing more of it at once. The wind isn't bad, though she wishes she'd thought to tie back her bangs properly so she would stop eating hair.

Overall… not terrible. "You okay, Beifong?" Shinsou asks over the wind in her ears.

"It's fine," she admits ruefully.

"Obviously, but that's not what I meant," Shinsou answers, only slightly winded from pedaling. "You've been distracted basically all day, what's up?"

Her mouth curves into a frown. So he had noticed. "Weird dream."

Shinsou doesn't answer immediately. "You're all glum because of a _dream_? Seriously?"

She resists punching him, if only to avoid a crash. Toph doesn't really want to talk about the 'what-if' scenario in her head, but it occurs to her that there was a choice she made few people even knew about, least of all Aiko's son. So before really thinking over her words, she asks, "Shinsou, did they ever tell you what Umeko was doing before the raid?"

"_Huh?_" He jolts back, startling Toph. "Beifong, what're you—_ah_!" Shinsou slams hard on the brakes, throwing Toph forward in a horrified scream as she clings to his neck. "Hey—stop it—get _off_ me—!"

Toph staggers to the ground instantly, straightening her shirt angrily. She scrapes her leg in the process, but it's the abruptness that makes her lose her cool. "You little shit!" She shrieks, fists clenches and ready to punch him in his stupid face.

"_You're_ the little shit! Why would you spring that on me while I'm steering?" Shinsou exclaims, untangling from his bike and setting it on the side of the path.

"I don't know! I just thought of it now, okay?!" Toph yells back, rubbing her chin where she smacked it against his skull.

"What does that mean?" Shinsou gasps for breath, rubbing his head in equal measure. "What does it _matter_ what she was doing, why're you bring it up?"

"I was getting to that," Toph hisses through clenched teeth, still catching her breath. "It's a long story. But Umeko—she… she released me on her own. She didn't plan on turning herself in or getting the police involved, but she saw a way out for me and I—I almost took it."

Slowly, they both settle down enough to stop glaring and yelling. Shinsou takes a slow inhale, and on the exhale, asks, "What was your plan?"

Shouto would judge her, even if he didn't mean to. Inasa would worry about her. But Shinsou, whose mother was just as twisted as Toph's, who used his quirk teasingly and toed the line like her because it was naturally how his quirk worked—He might understand.

Or not. But either way, Toph is tired of pretending it all never happened.

So she tells him everything, from the moment her parents started controlling her to the last time she went to the Quirk Rumble. She tells him about begging Loban to let her fight despite her age, just desperate for the chance even if she had to give up all the prize money and build free stadiums for him.

She tells him about Hotshot, who offered her a way out when it seemed like no one else cared. It makes her feel odd to recount it now, especially once she describes her final conversation with the confusing, fiery teenager. Toph doesn't say his name, but the incongruity of her interactions with Touya grates on her mind.

"You feel bad about what's happening to this Hotshot," Snoozles surmises quickly. "But if he doesn't want help, there's nothing for you do about it." Toph agrees, but she doesn't have to like it. But it's nice to know he agrees.

Finally, Toph tells him about Aiko's last words to her—frenetic, confusing, but certain of her crumbling morals and what little life she had left to shield from her actions.

"She mentioned me?" Shinsou interrupts her again, his voice small and hesitant.

"You said you and your dad never knew anything about what she was doing," Toph says softly. "She was serious about keeping you out of it, even if she was… well…"

"A psychopath," Shinsou finishes dryly, but he sniffles rather conspicuously and drags a hand over his face. "I never imagined it was… that's definitely enough shit to mess you up, but I'm glad you told me, I guess."

"Yeah, well," Toph gestures vaguely, trying to pull back some semblance of indifference back into herself, even though explaining it all makes her itchy from the inside out, like she swallowed a cactus and laid down on a bed of needles to digest. "Just don't go blabbing about it, I haven't even told the Izumis about it."

"Aw, and here I was excited to tell _all_ my friends about this," Shinsou says in a lazy drawl true to form, leaned against a tree like he owned the whole forest.

"Shut it, Snoozles," Toph throws back at him, a little harsher than she means to, still so full of sharp edges and prickly emotions—falling off the bike didn't help—that she continues, "Since when do you have other friends besides me?"

"I don't. Have any other friends." His answering tone is frank and simple, so unexpectedly vulnerable that she accepts it with the same grace she'd accept a knock-out punch in the face from her 2 year old brother. Shinsou pauses long enough for that to sink into the tense space between them. "You're the only person that doesn't treat me like I'm about to snap. I—that means a lot to me and—I'm not about to trash the one person that took a chance on me."

Shinsou's answer fills her with a confusing blend of relief and pure, unadulterated anger. "That's fucked too," spills from her mouth with the unrelenting force of a landslide, gritty and startling.

"What?" He gapes, taking a turn at being caught off his guard.

"You don't _owe_ me anything," Toph proclaims, only just stopping herself from stomping her foot plaintively. "People are asshats for thinking you're dangerous."

"Well, yeah—" he says haltingly.

"_Yeah_, so don't act like it doesn't _matter_ because you're _afraid to upset me_," Toph snaps, not really sure where her anger is coming from anymore. "Trash me all you want. I made some shit decisions and I-I'm a _criminal-for-using-my-quirk-like-that_, I know that and so do you, so don't _coddle_ me over this—"

"I'm not coddling you, what the hell?" Shinsou finally raises his voice over hers, pushing off from the tree. "Toph, all that you did—that doesn't make you a criminal. That was—that was _survival_."

Toph glares, befuddled. "What part of '_I beat up full grown men for a crowd_' screams survival to you?"

"The part where your crazy parents were trying to hide you and your quirk from the whole world," Shinsou exclaims, "The part where my mom tried to alter your own sense of self, and you fought it in the only way you knew how!" He seizes her by the shoulders firmly. "That's how you coped, Beifong. Not even Endeavor was able to fight her. Maybe it was illegal, and it's definitely stupid to re-analyze your every choice—but _of course you joined the Rumble_. You hung onto the _one thing_ you still wanted, when every other choice was being controlled by AV."

She's never considered it that way, and she resists it even as she's relieved at Shinsou for saying it. "I miss it sometimes," she argues quietly. "Even with everything I've been given since then… I should be more grateful. I shouldn't _miss_ it."

His hold on her loosens, but he doesn't back off. "Can't you be both? Miss what you had, and look forward to your future? I miss my mom all the time, even now that I know all the things she did. For me it wasn't all bad, and I want that part of my life back." He takes a breath. "But if we went back to that… you'd never become a hero. Neither would I."

And Toph desperately needs to become a hero. She knows that much about herself. She can't see herself doing anything but fight… the Rumble was fun, but it wasn't fulfilling. She knows what it feels like to be saved, by Endeavor, by the Izumi family. If she could give other people just a fraction of the relief and safety she's been given—if she could stop other kids from ever being targets or victims of villainous people like Aiko and Amon's Vision…

Maybe when she first thought of becoming a hero with Inasa it was a fanciful thing. Not anymore.

"Yeah," she says lamely, head tilting downward. "I… you're right. This was…" She pulls back from him with a huff. "I already _know_ all that. This was a stupid talk."

"Only a little stupid," Shinsou replies easily. "Can't believe I'm the one that has to say the cheesy bit, but—it's not a question of if we become heroes. It's when. So… stop daydreaming about running away with some Hotshot bad boy," he delivers with a flourish, and she can practically hear the cheshire grin on his face.

Toph makes a sharp noise of dissent, and tries to punch Shinsou again, but she's facing him head on and he had plenty of time to catch her arm. "I don't daydream, definitely not about some fire asshole," she asserts pointedly, twisting out of his grip. She heads for his bike, if only to escape Shinsou's relentless wisecracks now that they're no longer dwelling on heavier topics. "Let's keep moving, see if you actually have any endurance, Snoozles."

Shinsou scoffs, but picks up the bike and helps her balance on the back wheel once more without any further stupid comments. At least, it seems like it until they're going full-speed on the bicycle and he feels safe enough to bother her some more.

"So who do you daydream about, kitten? _Me_? That _airbender_ kid?" Toph lets out a frustrated growl, unable to properly smack him. "That's still adorable, it's like you're purring."

"_Shinsou_, I swear to god, I swear to _All Might_—" The bike swerves dangerously and Toph screams again, clinging Shinsou's neck while he laughs. That was on purpose. "I'm going to murder you! I'm gonna _break your neck_—"

"Then why do you keep hugging me?" He asks, even though the answer is infuriatingly apparent.

"Why do you keep comparing me to a _cat_?" Toph quips back, eyes narrowed. "Trying to tell me you're a _furry_?"

"What—" Shinsou splutters, completely taken aback, but at least he doesn't swerve the bike again. "Where'd you even _learn_ that word? I'm not a furry—"

"Oh ho, that sounds a whole lot like denial," she points out smugly, delighted to finally get a reaction out of him. Toph's usually the one to be provoked first. She can thank Natsuo for teaching her weird things. "The first step is acknowledging the problem, Shinsou."

"Shut up," he grumbles, clearly still insulted.

"You started it," Toph declares with a grin. "Don't dish it if you can't take it, kitten."

* * *

_A/N: __So here's the long-awaited talk with Touya. Not sure I made Hotshot mean enough lol, but I'll attribute that to age._

_It kinda got flirty at the end and the dialogue flew out of my hands, (Shinsou has in common with Todoroki that he can provoke Toph instantly) so there's that, but I'll be clear and say I haven't chosen an end pairing for this._


	14. Interlude: Seasonals - Summer

Toph wants to gag. Cool, thick cream is slathered over her face, and it prickles her nostrils with a pungent chemical scent. She is Immensely Uncomfortable. And she is trapped, because she kind of agreed to this.

Kano laughs heartily at her misfortune. "Oh gosh, you look like an angry kitten! I know you don't like it, but—"

"It's nasty," Toph groans, already tired of the greasy feel over her nose. And oh god, her poor ears. "Who cares if I get tanned?!"

More than once, Toph's been compared to a doll (_Kitten_ is a more recent thing, and she'll make Shinsou suffer for it in time). With how small she was and how pale her skin was, Toph looked like an expensive and fragile porcelain doll, so that's why people tended to treat her like glass. Natsuo was the one to finally outline that for her. She bit him on the arm and they didn't speak for two weeks.

Eventually, Endeavor got fed up and made them apologize to each other, but Toph hated being reminded of her appearance.

"It's not for that," Miyuki hums, cheerfully slathering baby sunscreen over poor, helpless Kouta. He's only three years old, unable to fight back. "It prevents sunburn and irreversible skin damage. You're quite fair, Toph, your skin doesn't produce enough melanin to protect you from the sun," she recites easily, like an infomercial. _Didn't they sponsor a sunscreen brand a few weeks ago?_

"So what if I get cancer in twenty years? At least I won't feel like an oil spill anymore," Toph rebels like a stray animal refusing a warm bath, but her argument sounds weak even to herself. Miyuki doesn't even bother responding, she just hums as if she knows Toph is wrong.

She picks at the swim suit she's been blackmailed into wearing. They're shorts and a crop-top-thing, and they make this trip ten times worse. It's synthetic and tight and hugs her skin strangely. Toph is thirteen now, and her whole body feels stretched out and gangly in ways she's never considered before, and for the first time in her life she's kind of unnerved by the thought of people looking at her, especially her friends. Boys can be so blunt.

At least she's not on her period, but now that's a thing she has to think about too.

This whole thing was a terrible idea she should have never agreed to.

Toph is not going to swim. She will _not_.

Why did she get stuck with the water-loving heroes? Wouldn't it make sense if she got to live with Pixie-bob or something? Or Cementoss. Or Rock-Lock.

But no. _Water Hose._ And they were determined to give her swimming lessons.

Her parents had flown to China and Japan's Hero Association had been unable to extradite them last year, so they're avoiding charges but getting all of their parental rights permanently revoked. They were still considered a danger to her because the AV case was still open—_and ain't that a sore spot for Todoroki-san?_—so Toph qualified for witness protection, which her new guardians are licensed for. Plus, well… They already knew who Toph was, and they _wanted_ her.

Miyuki-san had been seven months pregnant when Endeavor called them, and they shifted around their whole _life_ to accommodate Toph. But they didn't even hesitate. She was lucky to have them. She'll never agree with their love of water, but whatever. The Water Hose team is pretty great.

Kouta babbles some more, stringing together enough words to make it clear he's affronted with his mother for all the chemical cream supposedly made to save his baby skin from nature. "You and me both, kid," she fiddles with his pudgy foot, trying to re-strap a tiny water shoes onto him. He cries out his perfectly reasonable indignation. Toph nods in solidarity, knowing the pain of societal norms like wearing shoes, but his feet are soft and vulnerable and Miyuki is passionate about this sort of stuff. "That's rough, buddy."

When they get to the beach everything is worse than worse, because sand is horrible and itchy and she does not want to let go of Kano's hand at _all_.

Kano Izumi, a soft-spoken and thoughtful man, squeezes her hand back kindly. "What's with the face, Toph?" He asks quietly. "I can see Inasa in the water, want me to call him over?"

She shakes her head vigorously, letting go of his hand. "I hate this."

"What? The sand?"

"Everything," Toph bursts like a dam under pressure. "The sand, the water, the stupid sun! I wanna go home."

Miyuki goes ahead to set up a blanket with Kouta, but Kano hangs back with Toph. "It's not as bad as you think. Swimming is fun when you get the hang of it."

"Easy for you to say," Toph snaps, crossing her arms. "You're a waterbender, Kano. I'm not _made_ for the ocean. Or the sand. I like my earth _solid_."

He rests a hand on her shoulder. "We all have our weaknesses, Toph."

"I'm not weak!" She contests, gritting her teeth. "I just don't want to be here."

"This is the perfect opportunity to overcome your fear," he points out, but that plucks at an even more sensitive nerve, intentionally, because Kano can play her like a fiddle.

"I'm not afraid either!" Toph declares stubbornly. Is she so easy to read? Stupid heroes.

"Your best friend is just fifty yards away. You've been nagging me for weeks to see him. And suddenly, because there's a little water and sand in the way, he doesn't matter?"

This is why she hates arguing with Kano, he always talks in slow, calm measures, making everyone else look like a hot mess when they disagree with him. Toph would know, she's heard Endeavor make a fuss and lose to the water hero before, quite similar to the way all the fight is washed out of a cranky Kouta once he's placed in the bathtub he loves. Maybe Endeavor's been less combative lately as well, something that seems to surprise his kids as much as Toph, though she's never had reason to figure out what's caused it. Kano might have some insight on it, however, because he's the sort of guy that knows how people tick.

Including Toph.

All it takes is a soft, sincerely disapproving, "That's not the Toph I know."

Her nostrils flare in annoyance, but he's right. Inasa's boisterous laugh can be heard from here as he splashes water at his mom. And Toph wanted to talk to Inasa in person, instead of over the phone as they've been doing the past few weeks. There's been a few things bothering her about the way her old friend has been acting, especially since she brought up Hitoshi Shinsou going to the same school as her. His parents never had much time off work and it's difficult to organize a day for them to meet up. Ever since Cato, Inasa hasn't been allowed out without his mom's supervision, even though he's nearly thirteen now.

"Ugh!" Toph throws up her hands in frustration and marches onto the sand, immediately feeling her 'sight' go blurry. She soldiers on anyway, Kano trailing behind her, right up to the edge of the water.

"See? Not so bad," Kano chuckles.

"It's cold," Toph scowls at the innocuous water tickling her feet, but her frown quickly fade once Twinkletoes notices her.

"TOPH!" Inasa yells, sloshing towards her and sprinkling her with salty water. "C'mon, c'mon, I'll teach you how to float! We can dive for shells—" without waiting for a response he wraps two frigid hands around her wrists and drags her in.

"Take it easy, Yoarashi-kun," Kano warns, following them in. Toph bites her tongue, trying not to snap at Twinkletoes as the water creeps up to her thighs. Her _bare thighs_. She hates swimsuits. "She's new at this."

"You're gonna do great!" Inasa declares, "Just float!"

She grimaces. "Twinkletoes, um… Maybe… Kano should help me."

Twinkletoes slows down, letting go of her hands—which is not okay, not at all, and Toph scrambles to find Kano. He's behind her, thankfully. "Oh. Okay. That's okay! You're gonna love it, Kano-san is a pro!" He exclaims, sloshing around some more. Toph can still tell where he is in waist-deep water, but she only knows it's Inasa by his voice. Water is so weird. Sand is dreadful. The combination of the two is nauseating. "I'm gonna be with my mom, okay? Come play soccer with me when you're done! Or we can build sandcastles!"

Toph nods, taking a deep breath. "See ya, Twinkles." Kano crouches in the water and they drift further into the tide. Her feet are still touching the ground, but the sand shifts and stirs with the waves. It's impossible to keep track of anything, there's trillions of grains as each one is swept away, it makes Toph dizzier and more lost—

"Stay with me, Toph," Kano reminds her, calm as a still pond.

It's hard. It's harder than anything she's done, and Toph hates that she'll never be good at this. But she nods.

"You won't learn it all in one day," Kano warns, "But you'll know how to get comfortable and float, then you can play with Inasa. We good?"

She takes another calming breath. "We're good."

* * *

While Toph gets her first swimming lesson, Inasa figures he can find someone else to play with. Obviously mom is his first choice, or Toph's new mom-that's-not-her-mom, but they're both in the shade cooing over Toph's not-baby-brother, Kouta. He wants to say hi too, but he can do that later…

Well, he's not the only kid at the beach. He can make more friends here!

There's a group of boys not far from where he is, and they're playing frisbee. Inasa grows excited. As an airbender, he's an excellent frisbee player!

"Hey!" Inasa shouts at the boy with extra-long fingers, "Can I play too?!"

The boy seems startled, and quickly his eyes dart over to the other two. "Uhhh…?" He says, eyeing his friends for advice.

Another kid calls for the frisbee, and snatches it out of the air easily. Inasa looks to him hopefully, and the blond boy flicks the frisbee up and catches it. He does it again. And again. Smirking.

It doesn't seem like he has any intention of throwing it to Inasa, and that's—that's _annoying!_ Very mean! Inasa frowns at him and, channeling Toph, demands, "Are you gonna just stand there like a sad sack of potatoes or are ya gonna throw me the frisbee?"

The boy looks startled at being called out, and then he just sneers. "Fine, _baldy_. If you can catch this when I throw it, you can stick with us!" He declares, a smug smile on his face.

The other kids snicker, like they know a secret Inasa doesn't. Man. He isn't even sure he wants to hang out with these guys anymore. Still, Inasa holds his ground. "Fine then! Throw it as far as you like, I'll catch it!"

The other boy scowls harder, but nods. He looks around quickly, checking for any witnesses… and then _**BOO****M****!**_ He flings the frisbees with all the force of an explosion!

Inasa—both gobsmacked and absolutely determined to catch this stupid frisbees, bursts into motion with an impressive cloud of sand in his wake, zipping towards the speeding object without breaking a sweat.

He jumps high into the air to reach it, and the frisbees slides easily into his hands. Inasa cackles as he floats down and jogs back to the group of boys. He presents the—slightly charred—frisbee back to the boy who threw it, grinning widely. "Told ya!" He chirps as the frisbee is smacked out of his hand.

"_What the fuck!_ Are you tryin' to show off, baldy?! You think you're _better_ than me, huh?" He snaps, red eyes blazing as he marches into Inasa's space. He's shorter than Inasa, but that quirk's kinda dangerous, and his hands are crackling like popcorn. Or maybe something more dangerous than popcorn. Oh boy.

Inasa's no pushover though. He's seen Toph throw around insults just as easily as this explosion boy, and it's never phased him. He holds his ground again, hands on his hips. "I told you I'd catch it, and I did. But I'm not hanging out with you if you're just a sore loser."

"WHAT?!" The boy explodes, verbally and physically as sparks fly from his palms. Man, that's a cool quirk. Too bad he's so bitter. "Say that to me again, you shitty monk! I'm no loser!"

Inasa huffs. He's not as good with the insults as Toph, but a _monk?_ That's so rude! He has hair! Inasa can't let that slide. He takes a deep breath to center himself.

"You're right, you're no loser—**_you're a weeni__e!_**"

Okay. He can take insults just fine, but maybe he should work on delivering them.

The blond boy screams in his face, and Inasa staggers backwards towards the water. "Don't you run, air-boy!"

He takes a swipe at Inasa, but Inasa lets the air buffet around him, deflecting the small blast. They're not even supposed to use quirks in public, but that doesn't seem to phase this kid. Inasa's feet are in the tide now, and he flicks a foot up, aiming to spray a bit of water over the fuming kid and deter any more explosions.

Except, well, instead of a sprinkle, it's more like a wave that drenches the blond boy, knocking him onto his butt.

The boy splutters in surprise, rubbing salty water out of his eyes. Inasa stares back, aghast. His stomach lurches in rebellion, feeling the swirl of water at his fingers. He shakes his leg like it's been burned. "Uh oh."

"You FUCKER!" the boy shrieks, clambering back to his feet. His hands aren't sparking anymore, and Inasa laughs nervously. "What was that?!"

"Whoops?" He tries. And then Inasa sprints away from the boys, aided by the breeze at his back. There's no way for the angry weenie to follow him, he's nowhere near as fast, but he can hear him howling in the distance and likens it to the ominous call of a werewolf.

Inasa stops at practically the other end of the beach, right were the soft sand gives way to big rocks and a collection of puddles, panting loudly. Well, that first attempt sucked, but Inasa won't give up so quickly.

After a moment to catch his breath, he begins wandering, picking up seashells with interesting colors—and then dropping most of them, because Toph can't look at colors, but maybe Shouto would like the white and blue speckled one. It's even harder to find time to visit Shouto, but maybe Kano-san will pass it along.

Inasa jumps back in the water for some time, letting the waves carry him to and from the shore. But at one point he feels like the water has calmed down, yet he's still pushing and pulling himself through the waves somehow, so he stands upright and returns to the sand, ignoring the tantalizing ocean spray for the large, flat rocks that cut off the public swimming area. It's quieter here, but he can still see his mom's umbrella if he squints, so it's fine.

After a few more minutes of meandering, he sees another kid. A girl, sitting by the edge of a tide pool with a lizard-like head. Her face is gray and brown scales, speckled with black, but her hair is bright red and puffy, like a red panda. A little spooky, but mostly just weird! He likes weird! Inasa makes his way over to introduce himself.

"Hi there!" He shouts, making her jump and drop a shell back into the water. There's a bunch of shells around her, and one of them is moving—"Are those hermit crabs?! So cool!"

The girl looks up at him with frightened yellow eyes. There's a flash of lemony light, and suddenly Inasa is frozen in place, staring at her. _What?_ He thinks in a panic. The wind whirls around him roughly, and he's hyper-aware of the rolling water just meters from his fingers. The girl shrieks and runs away, and in another breath, Inasa can move again. _She paralyzed me?!_ He realizes in alarm, looking around for her. She's gone. How did she do that? What was that feeling? _The water is moving wrong._ What if it happens again—

"Yoarashi-kun!" Someone shouts to him, and Inasa whips around, tense and turbulent like the churning waves at his back.

But it's just Miyuki-san walking over to him, a pleasant smile on her face. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. The water recedes with the waves. He's fine. He's fine. _He's fine—_

"Yoarashi-kun, are you okay?" She asks carefully as she approaches him, sharp dark eyes scanning over him.

He tries to say yes, he's fine, but his sight is blurry and he can't breathe—"N-no…"

"Oh, sweetie," Miyuki gasps, pulling him into a hug. "It's okay, you're safe. Nothing happened." She cradles his head against her shoulder and rubs his back. "I'm here. Your mom is by our umbrella. Breathe, sweetie."

Inasa takes a few shaky breaths, nodding. "I-I'm sorry. I just got scared. I think it was an accident, she got scared too—"

"What?" Miyuki frowns at him, wiping his face. "Who got scared?"

He bites his lip and shakes his head. "It was an accident," he says more confidently. "A girl used her quirk on me because I scared her. It's okay." Inasa doesn't mention the way the ocean lurched for him, or how the wind howled without his permission. He inhales deeply through his nose, and then out through his mouth, like the doctor told him to.

This happens sometimes. Ever since he got out of Cato, he's been talking to a quirk doctor about it.

Miyuki looks over him again, and nods. "Toph is waiting for you, she's learning how to make sandcastles."

Inasa breaks out into a smile. He'll always smile for Toph, even if he doesn't feel like it. "That's great, I'll help!" He declares, darting past Miyuki to find her. He can feel her gaze on his back, but Inasa brushes it aside. He feels kinda crappy right now, and he hasn't made any friends on the beach like he intended to, but that's why he has Toph. Toph makes everything brighter.

* * *

As expected, Toph greets him with a sunny smile. "Finally," she exclaims, getting to her feet. Kouta is beside her on a folded towel, scowling at his tiny toes. "Where've you been, dummy?"

Unlike the blonde kid, Toph's insults roll off his back like water off of Captain Selkie. Even at her meanest, Toph loves him. He knows her well enough to know this is how she shows affection. "Waiting for you! Now, let's build something. A castle. Two castles!"

"A really big castle," Toph suggests, laughing. "Big enough to fit Kouta in it."

"A FORT!" Inasa exclaims, shoveling wet sand into the biggest bucket. "With a moat!"

"What's a moat?"

"I dunno, like a pool." He begins to mime the shape of it with his hands before dismissing the explanation as useless for his friend.

Toph crosses her arms. "More water? Sounds lame."

"Kouta likes water!" Inasa argues. "Plus, it's like a protective pool. Around the castle. But let's focus on the castle first!"

"I thought it was a fort?" Toph's face scrunches up. "I guess they're pretty similar."

"Good point." Inasa crouches down to Kouta's height and holds out both hands. "Kouta-chan, wanna be a prince with a castle or a soldier with a fort?"

Kouta stares at him with big red eyes, and then grabs his left hand. "Castle!"

"Prince with a castle it is!" Inasa cheers. Kouta, catching onto his enthusiasm, cheers with him. Inasa dips into a bow so low that his head smacks into the sand. "At your service, Prince Kouta of the Izumi Family!" He smiles adorably with tiny baby teeth. What a good baby. Toph always acts like it's a chore to look after him, but Inasa would love siblings.

Cackling, Toph bows with gusto as well, which delights the baby boy. It delights Inasa too. She's so pretty. "Alright, time for the show. Inasa, shield his face from the sand."

Inasa scoots Kouta backwards a little, and carefully turns him away from Toph. "Ready! Wait. Whatcha doing?"

"Just watch!" Toph smirks, and then her stance shifts into her usual practice position. Inasa loves watching Toph earthbend, she makes it look like a martial art. He can already see her in the future as a hero, moving like a born warrior. She mentioned that the Izumis were sending her to lessons so she'd continue learning how to fight without using her quirk to wreck their yard. He never saw Shouto's house before Toph bulldozed through it, but the ice-and-firebender described his courtyard's unorthodox remodeling in great detail.

The sand swirls around, solidifying around Toph's ankles, and then she pulls a hand in an upward slice. The sand follows her move, jettisoning into a mighty tower. It crumbles a bit near the top, but it's almost her height.

"Wow," Inasa lets out a breath. He's not sure if it was the earthbending or just Toph being Toph that took his breath away to begin with. "I thought you've never been to the beach before!"

"I haven't," Toph flashes an incandescent smile, sandbending another pillar. "Cool, huh?"

"Uh, yeah," Inasa cheers, clambering between the pillars. "Make a big one in the middle! With spires!"

She obliges, and before long there's a massive castle between them, glimmering with shells and fake-brick detailing. Inasa helps carve out the details and digs a moat around it, and Kano-san comes by to stream some water into it, though it keeps soaking into the sand. It looks amazing. And Toph looks amazing as she works, beaming like the sun with rosy cheeks and damp hair plastered to her face.

He's not sure how long they build for, because they keep rebuilding: Kouta will knocks over some towers; Toph will tear it down to build something else; Inasa will dump water on all three of them and then Toph'll trap him in sand.—and then they return to constructing, cackling all the while. He could do this forever with Toph.

But as they keep building, Inasa finds himself quieter than usual, especially after watching Kano-san pull water into their creation to finally fill up their moat. His mind keeps returning to the lizard girl with the paralyzing quirk, and the hot-blooded blond boy he drenched with water. On both occasions, his gut reactions weren't normal. In the past, he would've picked up a whirlwind and blown around sand if he got too excited. Maybe create a gust of air strong enough to knock the boy off his feet. But instead the ocean water pushed and pulled in rhythm with Inasa's intentions. Without ever doing it before, Inasa knew the water would bend and change if he asked it to.

And Inasa did not want that. His skin crawled at the very idea. What business does he have waterbending? It's wrong.

"Inasa?" Toph calls him out of the blue. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course!" He agrees, though something in her tone is off. There's no smile on her face anymore, but she's not frowning either.

"Why don't you wanna meet Hitoshi?"

Ah. Shinsou. Inasa's good mood doesn't evaporate, but it certainly fades a bit. "You know why." He hasn't said it in many words, but it must be obvious. "I'm not gonna stop you from hanging out with him, but. I wish you wouldn't."

"And I've told you he's nothing like her," she replies evenly. "You'd like him. And he wants to meet you, which—" she huffs. "You boys are so weird," Toph shakes her head with a pout.

Inasa pouts right back, though it's probably not as endearing as her's. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"_Shouto_," she says flatly, exasperated. "Shouto wants to meet _Hitoshi_, but with Endeavor being the one to, uh," she grimaces, "_Stop_ Puppetmaster, _Hitoshi_ doesn't want anything to do with the _Todorokis_. And on the other side, he's _totally_ down to meet you, and _you_ want nothing to do with the _Shinsous_!"

"Can you _blame me?!"_ He exclaims, brushing sand off his hands to busy himself. "None of this is normal to begin with, so don't call me the weird one!" This isn't something Toph could ever understand, though. She sent a picture of the two of them once. That Hitoshi kid looks just like his mother, and Inasa can't. He can't! "I'm not meeting him. I barely have time to see _you_ anyway."

He doesn't think Miyuki-san will mention it, but the lizard girl with paralyzing eyes? Inasa really doesn't try to judge people by their quirks, but mental abilities like that just don't... he doesn't want to look like a crybaby in front of Toph. Better to avoid it while he can.

"Plus, I—I don't blame Shinsou either, about Endeavor," Inasa continues quietly. He believes Toph wholeheartedly that Hitoshi is different, but Inasa knows he can't handle more reminders of AV. And Shouto looks a lot like his dad, so it's probably the same kind of sore spot for the brainwashing kid. "If he doesn't wanna meet, _he doesn't wanna meet_."

"In conclusion," Toph looks at him sourly, "You boys are weird. I _know_ we'd all get along."

"Toph…" He knows she can be stubborn, but they've been at a stalemate over this for months already. The same way they've been at a stalemate over his quirk, which Inasa refuses to experiment with. Talking it out in person won't change a thing. "Just let it go. Please. I never get to see you anymore, and I don't want to argue."

The despairing expression on Toph's face kills Inasa inside, but he's only trying to tell her the truth. He's never been so adamant about avoiding confrontation before, but this… this is something he'd rather neatly pack up and push to the back of his mind. And Toph knows it, because she slumps in concession, nodding minutely.

"Okay, Twinkletoes," she sighs. "But you can't avoid this kinda stuff forever."

"I know," Oh, Inasa knows it. And she's not only talking about Shinsou. "But… just a little longer." Another day, another month. Inasa might not face it for years, but he won't tell that to Toph. "C'mon, we need another tower," he switches gears, and slowly, they continue their sand work.

True to her word, Toph doesn't bring any of it up again. Her smile returns, softer but just as brilliant, and that's all he needs.

* * *

"Toph!" Miyuki jogs over to them. "Time to reapply!"

"No!" Toph rebels immediately, sinking her hands into the sand. The action disrupts the tower she's building, and it collapses into a pile. Again.

He watches, pitying his friend as Miyuki drags her and Kouta back to the shade for a healthy dose of gloopy cream.

Inasa opts for his mom to spray him all over with a clear sunscreen, holding his breath, and then he's back at the castle, figuring out how to bundle twigs together for a drawbridge.

It's at this point that the blond boy finds him again, stomping over with a permanent scowl etched onto his face. Inasa watches him with a slight frown.

"You! Bald-head!" The boy points an accusing finger at him. "You coward, you ran away!"

Inasa drops the sticks, hastily shaking the sand off his hands. "I said I didn't wanna hang out with you," he declares, only raising his voice a little. "So _leave_."

The boy fumes, nostrils flaring, His hands are popping again. Red eyes dart to the large castle, and Inasa is instantly on guard. "What's this, a sandcastle? Are you a _baby_ or something?!"

"Stay away from it," Inasa warns. Him and Toph could easily make a new one, and they've already wrecked it several times on their own, but that's their castle, not this kid's. The thought of him trampling over something meant for Inasa and Toph is—is _unacceptable_.

The boy scoffs, taking a threatening step forward. "Ooh, what're you gonna do if I touch it? Splash more water? Run away?" He barks out in laughter, and reaches out a hand.

"Stop it," Inasa warns.

"Make me!" The boy sneers. "I'm just here to finish what you started, so fight me!"

...Fight him? _Fight him?_

"What?!" Inasa demands with a splutter, leaping to his feet. "_No way!_ Do you think this some joke? We're on a beach, my mom would kill me if—where's _your_ mom, huh?" Inasa narrows his eyes, getting a better idea than chewing out this jerk. He sucks in a huge breath of air, and bellows at the top of his lungs, "**_STOP TRYING TO EXPLODE EVERYTHING YOU BIG WEENIE!_**"

Everyone at the beach stops what they're doing to look at them. He can see Miyuki-san and his mom rising to their feet. Toph looks up in surprise too.

The explosion boy looks _furious_, blown back a foot but still on his feet. "You COWARD!" He shouts, but his head whips back and forth in alarm. "Gonna cry back to mommy now, you stupid, _bald_—"

"_KATSUKI BAKUGOU, YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!_" a terrifying woman hollers at them from the far side of the beach. "_I'LL GIVE YOU TEN SECONDS, YOU LITTLE BRAT!_"

A satisfied grin stretches over Inasa's face. "It was nice knowin' ya, _Katsuki Bakugou!_"

Bakugou growls, but then he looks back at his fuming mother and stomps away, hands sparking and smoking with small explosions. "This ain't over, baldy!"

Except, it really is. Inasa's mom and Toph walk over to him and the castle to investigate, and Inasa greets them with a victorious smile. "What the heck was _that_, Inasa?" Toph demands, but there's an undercurrent of concern in her expression.

"Just some kid trying to ruin our castle," Inasa says dismissively, shooting his mother a reassuring smile. Toph's eyes are still narrowed, and her head is tilted like she's trying to listen to what Bakugou is saying to his mother. "Hey, Toph!" He draws her attention away.

She blinks. "Yeah?"

Inasa dives for her, sweeping her up into his arms before she can retaliate, and throws both of them into the side of the sandcastle.

Toph shrieks, smacking his arm and spitting out sand. "You jerk!" She laughs, pushing at his chest. Inasa lets himself fall backwards to crush more of the castle, and flicks out a burst of wind to knock her down too. "I'm never getting all this sand off," she moans.

"We could always go back in the water—"

"No!" Toph denies, and makes his feet sink into the sand up to his knees. "No more water! _Only land!_"

He cackles at her sour face, pulling more wind around to tangle her half-dried hair. He's gotten very good and fine-tuning how strong his winds are. "How about air?"

Toph sticks her tongue at him, and then coughs from getting more sand in her mouth. Inasa snickers, and she takes a big clump of sand and dumps it over his stomach. Then another clump over his knees.

"Wha—are you burying me?"

"Yes!" She grins.

"Well, it was nice knowing you," Inasa says solemnly. "Tell my mom I love her!"

"Tell her yourself, she's right here!" Toph points at his mom, who's been watching from a few feet away the whole time. She's taking photos and Inasa grins hugely for her. He'll have her print out pictures from today.

"Oh, right!" Inasa waves a hand before Toph grabs it and encases him in sand. "Mom, tell Toph I love her!"

"Shut it, Airhead," Toph mutters with pink cheeks, punching his arm. Oof, she's gotten stronger, if not much taller.

"I can't speak, I'm dead now," Inasa points out, but he's more interested in the blush coloring her face now. "You're just hearing my ghost."

"What, now I'm being haunted?" She teases, rolling her eyes. Her hair falls over her eyes once more, and the blush fades.

"You did bury me in a shallow grave," Inasa reasons, wiggling his fingers. "I have to. Ghost rules." For some reason that makes Toph frown, but Inasa doesn't get the chance to address it.

"Alright guys," Kano-san jogs over. "It's getting late, Kouta's already napping."

"And you two need baths," Inasa's mom adds with a smile. That sets off Toph all over again, and she instantly dives into a passionate tirade over the absolute waste of time that is bathing. It's all just big talk, Toph never wins against Kano and she doesn't really try to either, but it brings a smile to Inasa's face nonetheless. This is normal Toph, normal mom and normal family things.

This is the sort of underwhelming average-ness that Inasa has been missing.

When he's alone with his parents, they still get a fearful look in their eye whenever Inasa isn't home on time. They still usher him off to the quirk doctor with tense expressions, forever waiting for the day they find out something _is_ really wrong with Inasa because of what they did to him at Cato. There's always an undercurrent of uncertainty in his daily life because his parents periodically check up on the AV case, which won't be resolved until Tarrlok and the rest of the shadowy organization faces justice.

Inasa just wants his life back to the way it was. So he clings to moments like this with all his might, burning the sight into his memories so he'll never be told to forget Toph. All the while, the ocean waves push and pull at the sandy edge of the beach, yearning and insistent.

* * *

_A/N: __I know many have been looking forward to seeing all of Toph's friends together, but it's just not that easy. (You'll have to wait for the next season, because Fall brings change.)_

_We haven't seen them all together yet, but how about Inasa calling Bakugou a weenie? It's not the canon character appearance you wanted, but it's the one we all deserve. _

_Oh! That lizard girl with paralyzing eyes is a real character too! She's Tsuyu Asui's middle school friend, and is canonically terrifying. _

_Lastly—I have a question for you guys! You've heard of the Dekusquad. The Bakusquad. Besides the obvious ones, who's in Toph's squad?_


	15. Interlude: Seasonals - And a Fall

The week before the entrance exam for UA, the Water Hose team is brutally killed while apprehending a villain. Toph is whisked out of school and into a hospital, but there's nothing to do. Miyuki Izumi is dead on arrival, and Kano takes his last breaths before she arrives. Kouta is still at preschool, and Toph absently tells her social worker—Kaneko, a woman with knobbly zebra legs—that he shouldn't be allowed near the hospital at all.

"Your emergency contacts are listed here as Enji Todoroki and Shino Sosaki."

"Sosaki?" Toph repeats quizzically, not recognizing the name immediately.

"You may know her as Mandalay. She's Miyuki's first cousin, but she's about three hours away. I think Todoroki-san won't mind bringing both of you home for tonight, but I believe custody of Kouta-kun will be transferred to Sosaki-san," Kaneko admits frankly. She's never been one to pull her punches. "In your case, it depends on what you work out with either Todoroki-san or Sosaki-san. If that doesn't pan out, I'll take it from there."

Toph simply nods, letting Kaneko turn back to her phone to work. She has Toph consent to two different documents, one for Sosaki's fostership and one for the Todorokis, because Toph doesn't mind either option. They're in the lobby on the ICU level of the hospital, a totally different place than Cato, but it still chafes at Toph like a poison-ivy rash. At some point Kaneko tells her that Kouta is being taken to Todoroki's house, and that Natsuo will be here soon, but the words drip over her, a steady drizzle of rain with virtually no effect. There's a TV in the corner of the room, the volume set low and hardly audible over the buzz of lights and the murmur of people throughout the building.

It's playing news coverage over the Water Hose team, though, and Toph can't bring herself to block out the cold, infuriating sound of strangers picking apart the fight that killed them.

Of course, the newscaster praises them thoroughly too. Lays on the commendations like a syrupy blanket to mask the bullshit they're spewing along the way._ ...Mistakenly chose to engage the enhancer-quirk villain instead of waiting for back-up… Clearly outmatched by the infamous strength of the perpetrator… Costly fight for a newly-renovated commercial area… Outstanding performance in order to prevent civilian casualties... Agency is scrambling to arrange a press conference to address the damages… Villain is in custody thanks to their last moments of bravery…_

"I'm going to take a walk," Toph announces softly, and Kaneko gives her consent because it's a beautiful day. It's only one o'clock, and though it's autumn, the air is still warm and the skies are clear. The fact that Toph leaves with her school bag goes unnoticed.

She ends up passing Natsuo by the front desk, and tells him, in a spur of the moment choice, _Kaneko-san needs a word before we go, I'll be waiting outside_. Toph gestures to her bag, and he doesn't question it further. He knows better than to coddle her, anyway.

The air outside is crisp and pleasant from a recent rain. Toph scrubs a hand through her hair, letting more of her bangs out from her headband—and then removing it entirely, because she wears it every day. Face angled at the ground, Toph takes a brisk pace towards the nearest train station.

This isn't her running away. She just needs her walk to last a little longer than a standard stroll.

On the train, Toph slides her finger over the seams of her cell phone, popping the battery pack out. She steps out of the car at a random station and sits down long enough to peel off her socks and shoes. No one really cares about a kid going barefoot these days, though the Beifongs used to make it sound like a capital crime. Toph gets back onto a different train, and no one bothers her as she rides it all the way to its last stop in Ueno.

She chose Ueno for a reason. At the very edge of this part of the city, there's a large swath of empty wetland that has yet to be purchased and built upon. Basically an empty swamp, with only an abundance of flora and fauna as her witness. Touya clearly doesn't use it anymore. She trudges deep into the marshes, uncaring of the muck gathering over her calves or the grasses sticking to her skirt.

Toph places her school bag high up on a twisty branch, tips backwards into pool of muddy earth, and _sobs her fucking useless eyes out_ for the Izumis. She _screams_. She punts rocks forty feet away and smashes her fists into unsuspecting tree trunks. Sloppily, she pushes her hair out of her face, smearing mud everywhere, and cries until her chest aches too much to keep going.

"They're _dead_," she says out loud, unwilling to say it in the presence of anyone else. Her voice is raw and shaky and _weak_, so Toph doesn't want anyone to hear it. She can't _let_ anyone hear it. Endeavor dealt with enough shit from her when she was finally removed from the Beifongs' custody, Toph needs no repeat of their ruined courtyard.

Except this time, there's even less blame to push around. The Beifongs were criminals because they had an agenda that went against everything Toph was born to become. But this? Toph has no doubt this would've happened regardless of whether or not Toph was around. Muscular was attacking in their patrol route, the same city they've operated in for years. There was no way support could've reached them in time. The Izumis died in the line of duty, they got what they signed up for. It's entirely that villain's fault, Toph _knows_.

It's just fucking unfair.

_None of it is fair,_ Todoroki-san's voice filters back into her mind as she lays in the mud. Toph breaths in the thick, earthy air around her. _And this is probably pointless,_ she finishes the thought bitterly.

She emerges from the earth like a reanimated corpse, and decides she's going to be senseless for a little while longer anyway.

Shucking off the dirt as best she can, Toph trudges out of the swampland. Her bag slides off her shoulder as she walks, and she swaps her shapeless blazer for a faded navy zip-up hoodie. She unravels the already-loose tie from her neck, still damp, and stuffs that away too. She shuffles out of her school uniform's pleated skirt into the basketball shorts she uses for gym period. The muddy dress shirt is exchanged for a soft gray t-shirt.

Toph isn't quite trying to disguise herself, but at the same time, she doubts anyone looking for her will expect a clothing change. Her school bag is the same as everyone else's, so that won't give her away either.

She keeps going. Toph dives into her senses, each vibration unique and separate from each other to build her world. Her quirk gives her the ability to see through vibrations, but not just the tremors from her own feet. Everything vibrates, from the air around a bird's wings to the tremble of gravel beneath the tires of a car. Toph has learned to pick through sound and seismic motion, only feeling for what she needs to, but today she lets it all in.

That way, there's no room for her thoughts.

It's getting late now, past sundown. Moisture collects in the air, and Toph is minutely aware of it in every breath she takes, in every swish of fabric and in the beads of sweat that cling to her skin. She ducks into a small store just moments before the first drops of rain hit the pavement. She's surprised it's still open.

It's blessedly uncrowded, only one register open with a sleepy cashier scrolling on a phone and two customers ambling down the narrow aisles. The air is stale, but cool and dry compared to the growing rainstorm just meters away. She'll go back outside soon enough. When it pours like this, Toph can see a great deal.

For now, though, she has some petty cash left in her wallet. Toph doesn't feel particularly hungry after missing dinner, but maybe she could use a drink. Toph shambles over to the refrigerated section in the back of the store. The bottle shapes are familiar enough, and she's not picky about what she gets as long as it's liquid. Maybe a soft drink, or milk tea.

Her hand falls onto a glass jar, and she gives it a tap with her nails. _Kimchi_. Kano-san liked to get the really spicy kind to put in his rice, and the smell would linger throughout their house for hours. Miyuki hated it, but Kouta liked the spiciness. Unbidden, Toph's eyes are welling up with tears. _Not now_, she thinks in helpless frustration. _Not in a grocery store over a jar of kimchi._

But oh god, she's never going to smell it again. Spicy kimchi spilling onto the just-cleaned table, the cut grass from the small backyard, Kano's minted breath, the baby sunscreen Miyuki insisted she and Kouta wear every day—that mixture of scents was just a memory, now and forever. Why did they have to die? Why would they leave her so quickly?

A light tap on her shoulder drags her back to the present. A gravelly voice, muffled by something. "...hear me, kid? I asked you to move over."

"Oh," Toph answers numbly, stepping to the left. "Sorry."

"S'all right," the man says shortly, leaning over to take a container and place it in his shopping basket. He lingers for a moment. Toph is stuck where she is, in the middle of sorting through several emotions and trying to make sense of his muffled voice. It's making her remember something. "...Uh. Are you okay?"

She quickly ducks her head to rub her eyes, and shakes her head. "_Fine_," she says, unable to come up with any other words. He's wearing a scarf, that's why his voice is muffled. Strange.

He's still standing there. Then he shifts his weight from his left foot to his right, and Toph realizes with a jolt that she does know him. "Kid, you sure you're—"

"I know you," She interrupts him softly, surprising both of them as she turns her face up to him. "_Stendhal_." They never even spoke to each other, actually, but she remembers the name. She can feel the heavy clink of metal, a short blade beneath his jacket, a few switchblades strapped against his ribcage. Idiot, she should've noticed that earlier. He's _armed_.

As expected, he goes still. That's confirmation enough for Toph. "_What did you just call me?"_

"We've met before," she explains half-heartedly. That was stupid, calling him that. He'll want more information… but it's such a strange fluke. She hasn't spoken to anyone from the Quirk Rumble since Touya, and it's been years since then.

"I don't recognize you," He says in a quiet, tense voice, hunched over slightly to (presumably) scrutinize her. It's late, and the grocery mart is practically empty as the last customer makes their purchase. The only employee is shuffling papers at the register, out of hearing range. "_How do you know that name?_"

She tucks her long bangs behind her ears, stalling to get her thoughts in order and figure out what she can say without risk. "That was your fighting name. I had one too."

Stendhal is silent for a long moment, but she can sense him relaxing out of his tense stance. "You're so _young_. I _knew_ that tiger was bending the rules for you," he says ruefully, exhaling a long, harsh breath. "You're the _Blind Bandit._"

"I _was_," Toph admits curtly, not really up for discussing it further. It's in the past. She's moving forward. "Do you know where the Calpico is?" She asks, changing the subject rather conspicuously.

"I… sure." He straightens up and moves to the far side of the refrigerated section. Toph follows. "Right up there." He points, and does nothing else.

Toph furrows her brow critically. "C'mon dude," she says exasperatedly.

"Eh? _Oh_." He honest to god smacks his own forehead, and she almost, _almost_, cracks a smile. It's kind of nice when people forget her disability. "Shit. You're _blind_. Fuck, you're so much shorter in person, can you even _reach_ up there?"

Toph rolls her eyes. She never fought the sword guy because they were in different weight classes, but if anything she's taller than she was at nine years old. "Just grab me the lychee one, please." Finally, he hands her a bottle. "Thanks."

"No problem..."

He doesn't sound particularly friendly or interested in speaking with her further. He's not leaving, though, and when Toph turns to walk away first he speaks up. "What are you doing here alone, Bandit?"

"Toph," she corrects him adamantly, clutching the bottle harder. "I don't do shit like that anymore. It's Toph Beifong." She isn't that worried about him tattling on her. There's a certain solidarity from the Rumble between fighters, between most people that frequented the underground ring. Plus, they've already been busted.

He makes a clicking noise with his tongue, annoyed. "Alright _Toph Beifong_, what're you doing here on your own?"

"Shopping," she says flatly. "S'raining outside, I'm waiting it out." Not really, but it's a divergence from what he's asking and Toph hopes he'll drop the conversation there.

He shifts his basket onto the other arm. "That doesn't explain much. You in trouble?"

Was she? Toph isn't sure there's anyone left to feel troubled by her absence, after all. Her phone is off and it's only been a few hours. Maybe she's missed a call from Kouta's aunt, or Todoroki, but what does it even matter? She'll go back eventually. Toph doesn't respond, but her mouth thins into a straight line and she shakes her head.

Carefully, Stendhal reaches over and places a large hand on her shoulder. "Follow me, Beifong," he says. It's an offer, not a demand, but Toph takes it and follows him closely as they go to the register. He elects for the automatic station, which Toph can't actually operate alone. When she turns to the cashier station, he plucks the soda bottle out of her hand without warning.

"What gives?" Toph shoots him an irritated look. "I have money."

He just gives a vague grunt in response, picking up a crinkly protein bar from the shelf as well and scanning everything into one purchase. He bags up the groceries in cloth bags, likely reusable ones like Miyuki-san uses. _Used_.

Toph swipes at her face again roughly. Was _everything_ in this fucking grocery store going to remind her of the Izumis? She should've stayed in the swamp.

Stendhal makes for the exit without calling to her, but Toph trails after him. He still has the stupid lychee drink. She could always get another one, and just leave Stendhal to his own devices, but it felt like he intended to continue their conversation elsewhere, away from the grocery mart.

_You're an idiot_, she can hear Touya chastise her. Well, she'll avoid any alleyways if Stendhal tries to lead her there, but Toph's already dug herself a hole by introducing herself.

As they exit into the street she hears the _click_ and _whoosh_ of an umbrella unfolding, and rain plinking against the cloth above her. Then the umbrella's handle is shoved into her hand, and Stendhal begins walking away.

"Hey," Toph says in sharp annoyance, forced to follow. He's not even trying to avoid the rain, it's too windy for Toph to hold it high enough to shield them both, it'll get flipped inside out. "Where are we going?"

"Not far," he answers in a clipped tone, giving away nothing. But it's not like Toph has anywhere else she wants to go. She'll face consequences for her 'walk', but not yet. And he's not _hostile_. Somewhere far away, Touya is probably cursing her out. But it really isn't far; the destination is apparent when Stendhal steps into the public park around the block, heading for an empty, uh, Toph doesn't know what it's called, but it's circular and sheltered from the rain and it's used in soppy movies that Miyuki cries at.

Toph folds the umbrella back up while Stendhal sets the groceries down and sits on a bench. He gives little warning, but Toph catches the soft drink he tosses to her without issue. She doesn't always catch things that people—_Shouto_—throw at her, but she's gotten better at it. He gives a quiet, surprised little "_huh_" at the quick response, and Toph turns her head to scowl at him.

"What was that, a test?" She zips through the relative silence to target the stupid impressed huff he made.

"I was curious," he answers, unaffected. "That's a tricky quirk you got there."

The comment is probing, his tone grating enough to push her to spill more details, but Toph shoves aside the urge and narrows her eyes. "Wouldn't you like to know, Stendhal," she settles on, wrenching the bottle open.

He makes a growly sort of noise, one that Toph would've been wary of if he hadn't already bought her a soft drink and walked out to a gazebo—_that's_ the word—to talk. "That name's not public information, kid. You _know_ what I am." Something darker enters his tone.

"Huh?" Toph hesitates, the bottle just touching her lower lip. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Silence. Then, Stendhal groans, sliding further down the bench like he's suddenly been turned to jelly. "For Kami's sake. Don't tell me you _don't know._"

"Know _what?_" Toph says with some heat, lowering the drink without taking a sip. "You were in the Rumble, what else is there to know?" He's probably still doing something underground, armed the way he is, but Toph's not one to care. People that take that route rarely have any other option.

But she hears him smack his own forehead again, meaning she's got it wrong. Then he rifles through his bag and tears open the crinkly-wrapped bar. "I don' fight with those fools anymore," he reveals through a mouthful of protein bar. She can tell it's one of those health bars because it's dense and gummy, and smells like one. "My cause is more principled than _senseless violence_."

The language doesn't escape her notice. _Cause? Principles?_

This conversation is taking a turn that Toph did not expect. She'd be less surprised if cats began to fall from the sky in lieu of rain. Alarm bells go off in her head, but Toph keeps her face from showing it. "Why did you fight with them at all if you're so high and mighty, huh?" Toph hooks her claws into the one fact she's certain of.

"I had yet to find my path. Why did _you_ fight, little girl?" He shoots right back, but Toph won't play this game. "You're strong, but too green to be involved in that shit."

"It was wrong and illegal," She concedes with a ruthless sort of efficiency, cutting through to the barebones she'd finally understood once she talked to Shinsou about it. "But it was the only thing I could control in my life. I have better ways now to train."

"Train?" he echoes, and his voice takes on an odd lilt. Amused. _Disdained_.

Maybe she shouldn't tell him this, not if Stendhal is what she thinks he is. If he has a _cause_, if he's _principled_. But a part of her needs to declare it to the world every day—_especially today_—and she can't be afraid to acknowledge what she wants. "I'm training to be a hero," she says frankly, taking a sip from her drink at last. "You got a problem with that?"

"I think _you_ might have a problem with getting _licensed_," Stendhal replies, voice dripping with a new level of loathing. He makes no move towards her, but Toph remains tense. "You don't think anyone will ever give the police a tip about the little earthbender who used to _fight for cash_?"

"I never fought for _cash_," Toph denies earnestly. Stendhal makes a small noise of confusion in the back of his throat, taken aback. She arches an eyebrow in question. "Is _that_ why I'm getting attitude? Loban didn't pay me a _cent_ for those fights."

"What?" He says, staggered by her disclosure. "Why the hell would you fight then?"

"To _fight_," Toph says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "To train, specifically. Like I just _said_."

"You could've _died_, the fuck is wrong with you?" He's a few decibels away from yelling now. Toph gets the distinct impression he's looking at her like one would regard a rabid animal. "What—what did you mean by 'the only thing you could control'?"

Toph chugs half the bottle of Calpico, annoyed. "Quid pro quo, _Stendhal_," she decides, putting heavy emphasis on the name she's not supposed to say. "Is that your _vigilante_ _name_ now?"

He tears through the rest of his protein bar, hunching over in an aggrieved slump. He sneers. "Gonna _report_ me, little hero? I probably do more _good_ for this society than _half_ the heroes you know."

Toph's hand tightens over her plastic bottle, breath caught in her throat as she remembers why she's out here in the first place, arguing with an old 'co-worker' in a thunderstorm. She swallows down the thick, murky emotion rising to her tongue, begging to defend people that aren't here. It's hard not to rise to the bait—very freaking hard—but she's not an angry nine year old anymore. Now she's an angry fifteen year old, and she _resists_. Toph molds her fury into something dry and disgruntled.

"Y'see, that's why I need to become a hero first," she replies casually, extending a tenuous truce between them. "No one would follow up if I reported you now. It's hard for people to trust the word of a _little blind girl_, no matter how right I am."

The response catching him unaware, she can tell by the hesitation in his posture before he hunches over again in a strange show of confidence. Of faith that she's no threat to him, and a measure of truce on his part. He still sneers at her though. "So you want to be _heard_. Want that _authority_. Power's a slippery slope, _girl_."

"Funny, I'd say the same thing about vigilantism, _dick_," Toph fires back. "I'm _principled_ too, y'know. If you're still on the same shit when I'm licensed, I hope you're prepared to face me."

He barks an odd, gritty sort of laugh, and Toph grins back into the liminal space they occupy between friends, enemies, and strangers meeting for the first time. Having known _of_ each other for so long, and yet knowing nothing now that they've met. It's funny that after all this time—six years, a lifetime of change for Toph—they're in each other's orbit far more personally than when they shared the Rumble.

_I better not make a habit of this, though,_ Toph thinks cautiously.

"I'm not going to stop," the vigilante rasps, a firmness to his words like he needs to impress upon her this point. But Toph remembers his fights very well, having expected to eventually move up to his weight class and take him down a notch. Stendhal fights _ferociously_, cleverly, with dogged determination you can't help but respect even with the odds stacked against him. He's armed, and there aren't any no-kill rules in this arena. "_Not until this society changes for the better._"

"Society," Toph echoes hollowly. She thinks of the cheering crowd after Water Hose's _final victory_, as it's being called. The praise showered over silent graves. Criticism and pessimistic analysis talks over their fight patterns. The unrelenting questions Kouta will ask. If society changed, maybe it wouldn't be so suffocating to deal with all this. Maybe there would be fewer villains and fewer bodies in the morgue. Yeah, society _does_ need to change, but probably not according to Stendhal's vision. "Lofty goal you got there," she replies, controlled and neutral. "A little radical, if you ask me."

"We have to aim high to get anything done," Stendhal says grimly, and Toph jerks her head around.

"'_We_'? You got a fanclub?" She probes, expecting some hint more about what the hell this vigilante thinks he's accomplishing.

Instead he just scoffs. "I mean _you and me_, kid. You're some brand of radical yourself, to hop into the ring before you've reached middle school." He fiddles with the wrapper in his hands, the noise crackling and loud enough to hear over the thousand plinking drops of rain overhead. His words solidify with shards of glass neatly cutting from within her. Maybe she is a little radical. "It remains to be seen whether your _goal_ is worth reaching."

The implied insult of her career path is easy enough to grasp. And still, Toph refuses the bait. She knows she has a short fuse, but today… today she's too drained to let it control her. The swamp swept all the fight from her, and Toph is determined to leave it in the mud.

He's probably killed people. She doesn't know his quirk, but he fought with blades and always seemed, like many fighters, too _savage_ for just the Rumble. Toph is in no position, no condition, to fight him or stop him here and now. Not with everything else going on. She isn't sure what his principles are, but she doesn't want to ask.

It's clear enough to her that they're on separate sides at this juncture.

Toph raises her soft drink in the caricature of a toast. "Not sure I'll ever see what you do, Stendhal." She sips her drink again, close to finishing it now. "You sure as hell can't see like me, and I don't mean because I'm blind."

He gives another grizzled sort of snort, shaking his head. "Maybe so," he concedes, rather ambivalently. He huffs. "This is the strangest conversation I've ever had."

"You're telling me," Toph sighs, but she's somehow thankful for it. "Why'd you buy me this?" She waves the bottle for unneeded emphasis. "I didn't even _know_ what you were, just your name."

A low grumble vibrated from his throat, and he crosses his arms. Eventually, the words tumble out like unpleasant admission. "...Y'looked like you needed help."

And doesn't that just hit her like a truck? Toph turns away, not sure how to take that answer.

He continues with a muttered, "Was I right?"

"None of this has actually _helped_," she points out, stubborn till the end. "Nothing's _changed_."

"Well, that's not true," Stendhal rasps, suddenly rising to his feet. Toph tenses for the briefest moment, but Stendhal doesn't seem inclined to fight her. He just makes a vague gesture around with his hand, cutting through the moist air definitively. "Haven't you noticed? The rain stopped."

It has. Rainwater drips down from trees onto the gazebo roof, but the air is quieter. There's nothing to muffle their words besides the scarf over Stendhal's face. She can feel the odd space they inhabited shrinking in on itself, filling the void back with reality. Stendhal picks up his groceries, and then his umbrella from the steps. He walks right past her and out the gazebo.

"Hey," she calls out, unwilling to let him have the last word. He pauses at her call, and Toph clenches her fingers around the plastic bottle in her hands. She doesn't want to thank him, and doubts he'd appreciate it anyway. "You're right. And I don't plan on stopping either. So when I'm licensed—"

"You'll try and stop me," he finishes the thought in a flat tone.

"No," she cuts him off stonily, voice unyielding as her element. "When I'm licensed… We'll see which one of us _changes society_."

There it is, the shift she's been anticipating since the start. She hadn't come out here wondering what sort of hero she wanted to be, but the uncertainty cropped up anyway, thrust upon her by Stendhal's presence and the dread surrounding Water Hose's end. Where there was once a question now laid a line in the sand. Until now she hasn't truly contested anything he's said, only clarified her own choices in the Rumble while his motives emerged, murky but solid.

"We'll see," he repeats in a murmur, a promise, and then he's plodding away, out of Toph's range in moments.

For a time, she sits in silence in the gazebo. Alone with her swirling thoughts, maybe for too long. Guiltily, Toph plugs the battery back into her phone. It buzzes like crazy for a moment, loading up messages and missed calls. Then the phone rings, and Toph answers.

* * *

"_What the hell is wrong with you_?" Enji Todoroki fumes like a cranky dragon, bursting out of the sleek car parked in front of her. He snatches her arm and tugs her into the back seat before she can get a word out, slamming the door just shy of her bare toes.

It's an abrupt shattering to the silence of one in the morning, but Toph clicks her jaw shut as he all but throws himself into the driver's seat. It _is_ one in the morning, after all.

"_Where the fuck have you been_?" He growls out, gunning the engine as Toph pulls on her seatbelt.

"I went for a walk," she says half-heartedly. "Are we going to your house?"

"_Of course we are!_" He makes a rather aggressive turn. She's never actually been driven by Todoroki-san before, his family has two drivers. Now she knows why. "And don't change the subject, _you took the battery out of your damn phone._"

Toph resolves to keep her cool for as long as she can. She leans her head against the window, hoping they don't make any more sharp turns. "I didn't want to be bothered."

"You were missing for _twelve fucking hours_," he hurls back at her, resentful and unforgiving.

She winces at that. "I did tell Kaneko I was taking a walk," Toph points out futilely.

"And then you _lied to my son's face_ and _disappeared into thin air_," Todoroki snarls like a beast. "What kind of _idiocy_ is that, Beifong?" He demands frigidly. "I had to use my damn agency's resources to track you, and even then you fucked off and _no one had a clue where you'd gone!_"

Her face twitches in irritation, but Toph stubbornly keeps herself from becoming defensive. "Well, I'm here now," she says lamely.

And Todoroki-san lets out a bonafide _scream_ of anger, slamming on the brakes hard enough to make the tires squeal. Toph is jerked forward with a gasp, wincing at the sound of rubber protesting against gravel. Suddenly the pro hero parks the vehicle, ripping off his seatbelt and throwing himself out of the sedan.

Okay. Maybe now Toph's a _little_ affected. She braces for him to wrench open the side door and yell in her face. But no such intrusion occurs.

Instead she hears him stomp around on the sidewalk like an absolute madman.

_"What is wrong with you kids? Fucking insane!" _He howls._ "You don't see how fucking—selfish—ignorant—! Stupid, bratty—fucking disgraceful—!"_ He kicks a lamp post, and yells some more curses into the night.

He's not really directing it at her, but Toph is properly frightened by his ranting. Worry begins to curl in her gut. Toph unbuckles herself and opens the car door, causing Todoroki to whip around and seethe in her direction.

"Beifong!" He bellows, loud enough to make her flinch. "Do you have any idea of how _moronic_ this has been?!"

Toph grimaces, her hand tightening over the car door. "It wasn't _that_ long."

"Wasn't that long," he repeats, dripping with sarcasm as he stalks toward her. "_Wasn't that long._ When you and Shouto went missing, you were only gone for a total of nineteen hours. _Nineteen_. That was long enough to sedate fifteen kids. Long enough to put you in _cages_. Organize transport to a secondary location, where your chances of surviving _drop by half_."

"I wasn't abducted," Toph scowls. "I'm _fine_."

"And how was _I_ supposed to know that?! How was I supposed to know if AV had gotten to you first and shut off your phone? How would I have known if the Beifongs had sent someone after you?" He pauses for a beat, and continues with even more fury. "You're _fifteen_, _female_, you fit perfectly in the _target group for sex trafficking_ too."

She glares, refusing to be cowed. "Now you're just trying to scare me," she accuses, folding her arms and stepping out of the car entirely.

"Am I?" Todoroki asks scornfully, blazing like his quirk without using it at all. "Alright then—_How was I supposed to know you hadn't run away to join another fucking fight club?_"

This time, Toph rears back like she's been slapped in the face, and the blood drains from her cheeks. "I-I would never—"

"The _hell_ you wouldn't. Don't you lie," he rumbles, hovering over Toph. "I had to learn that from fucking _Shinsou's kid_ of all people, because no one else knows _a thing_ about that little detail." A part of her is pained and crumbling and furious at the breach of trust, but a much larger part of Toph just plunges into shame.

"I was never going to do that," she insists, feeling like she's shackled to an anchor and being dragged under the surface. "It was years ago."

"The Elementals was years ago too," Todoroki seethes, kneeling to plant heavy hands on her arms. "Doesn't change the fact that we had _no leads_, Beifong. _No contact_. Just some surveillance footage of you leaving a train." He squeezes her. "You could have _died_, or worse. You've been fucking _blessed_ to escape those situations before, and you still ran off like an _ignorant little girl._"

That slices through Toph like a knife. It _burns_. She bites the inside of her cheek and breathes through her nose. She's already cried so much, she's exhausted from it. But he's right, he's completely _right_, and Toph doesn't know what to do.

"I—I'm sorry," she says, having never felt so _small_ before in her life. Todoroki-san has _never_ yelled at her like this, and Toph trembles under the weight of it. "I'm so sorry, Endeavor, I was just upset and I wasn't thinking."

"Damn right you weren't," he admonishes. "Damn right you should be sorry. Do you have _any_ idea what you just put us through?"

"I do now," Toph admits bitterly, hands fisted tight enough to whiten her knuckles. "Please forgive me."

"Tch, _I'm_ not the one you should be begging," he scoffs, and then continues with dreadful significance, "_Kouta-kun_."

Toph exhales something halfway to a sob, her heart wrenching. No, she wasn't thinking about Kouta much at all.

Todoroki presses on. "He's just lost his parents, and then his sister disappears too. Mandalay's already taken him home, there wasn't a point in waiting around to see if you popped back up."

"What do you mean?" Toph feels cold. She doesn't even register the tears anymore, but grips back against Todoroki's arms securely. "He's already _gone?_ When can I—"

"You'll see him at the funeral if he goes to it," Todoroki answers flatly. "That's in two days. Other than that, you're grounded."

Bewildered by the sudden statement, Toph frowns. "_Grounded?_ You can't—"

"Well, seeing as I already signed all the papers while you were moping, _I can_," Todoroki remarks evenly, releasing one of her arms to pinch the bridge of his nose. "You're grounded. You can go to the funeral. You can study for the written exam. _That's it._"

She listens in a daze. "So. You're fostering me, not Mandalay," Toph surmises, somewhat unconvinced after listening to Todoroki scream at her for so long.

"_No_," he answers frostily, but the severity begins to leak out of his tone. "This isn't some glorified _sleepover_. You piss me off, Beifong. You worried all my children, freaked them the _fuck_ out. I'm adopting you, you absolute menace."

The Izumis had adopted her after a year of her living with them, but she hadn't expected... Kaneko never even mentioned it...

"_Oh_." Her breath hitches. "I'm s-sorry for causing y-you trouble," Toph barely gets the words out before she's weeping again, her stomach twisting in sorrow even as a huge burden is lifted from her shoulders. Todoroki-san gives a long-suffering sigh, and then pulls her into an awkward hug. Toph doesn't care if it's awkward, she presses her face beneath his chin and loops her arms over his neck.

Toph can't imagine he'd do anything like this nine years ago, when she was first rescued by Endeavor, even if he'd known her as well as he does now. A lot has changed since then. Even five years ago, when the Beifongs were finally caught, Todoroki-san had never really comforted her. She's never seen him hug Shouto or Natsuo.

"I'm sorry for you loss, Beifong," he says quietly, patting her back. "They didn't deserve this. You don't either."

"None of it's fair," Toph echoes sadly, but there's a measure of acceptance in the statement now.

"Yes," he agrees, ruefully and subdued.

He releases her and corrals her back into the sedan. Before he closes the door behind her this time, Todoroki rubs a huge hand through her hair roughly, completely out of the blue.

"Stop it," Toph swats his hand away. "What the hell was that?"

"Why are you so_ dusty?_" Todoroki exclaims, mystified. He looks down at himself, and then begins to brush the excess dirt off his casual clothes with a dissenting grumble. "Did you roll around a _construction site?_"

"It was a swamp," Toph admits, scratching at a spot of dirt on her neck.

Todoroki groans, going back around to the driver's seat. He starts the car back up, and is only a slightly more cautious driver than before. Toph buckles up quickly. "At least it wasn't my house again," he grumbles. "Is that all you did?"

She hesitates too long. "..._Well_."

"Beifong."

He's finally not yelling anymore. This is just going to make things worse. He's a hero, she probably has a mark on her record already about the Quirk Rumble. "It's not a huge deal."

"If you don't tell me I'll ground you for longer."

"I don't even know how long I'm grounded for," Toph reminds him, chewing on her lip.

"Spill. _Now_."

She sinks lower into the plush leather seats. Crosses her arms. Braces for his bad driving. "Is there a vigilante called Stendhal active in Ueno right now?"

"Is ther—? _VIGILANTE?!_ You—_what did you do?_!" Todoroki splutters, but keeps driving. "Toph! _What do you know?_"

"I think I met him. In a grocery store. He used the same name to fight in the… _fight club_," Toph explains flimsily, clutching her seatbelt. "It was actually a total coincidence."

"How is that a _coincidence_? You talked to him, alone? _Why are you like this?_"

"We talked about the Rumble, mostly. I can't really identify him, and there wasn't anyone around to report to anyway. I can give a statement if that'll help." She's not sure how that'll work without incriminating herself over the Rumble, but Toph's making an effort here. Todoroki-san yelling at her feels like shit.

"First of all," he mutters, "You can give an anonymous tip about that Stendhal bastard, I'll work it out," Todoroki says begrudgingly. "Second of all, you're _grounded until high school_. No sparring. No hanging out with friends."

Toph's jaw drops. That's nearly _six months_. "What about Shouto?" He can't separate her from his own son, it's not fair to him.

Todoroki gnashes his teeth. "He's pissed too, Beifong. That boy _knows_ how to hold a grudge."

Toph pales. "Does… does he know about…?"

"Your _delinquent years?_ No, only Shinsou and I know. _Sweet Kami_, I can't believe you're so _dumb_. I can't let people know I adopted an _idiot_."

"So," Toph says haltingly, choosing to firmly put aside all the insults for now. She called him much worse after Cato anyway. And he still _adopted_ her. "So, no one knows what I did? It's not on my record?"

"Your record's a _shitshow_ already, Beifong, ever since _Lao_ mis-registered your quirk. That ring was busted years ago. No need to drag it out, you'd just reopen the case for Loban's lawyer." Todoroki-san sighs. He sounds tired. "It's almost 2 AM, _please_ tell me that's all you did."

Toph curls up on the seat. "That's all," she promises.

"Thank _fuck_," Todoroki-san exhales noisily, the final note before silence takes over the car.

Toph shuts her eyes, feeling the last dredges of her energy drain away. When she wakes up again, it's because the car door is being opened for her, and Todoroki-san is shaking her. She hums in protest, but stumbles out of the car obediently. She passes through the mudroom in a haze, barely registering Endeavor's aggrieved noise when he realizes she hasn't been wearing shoes the whole night.

"Sorry," Toph mutters blearily, suddenly finding herself sinking into a futon. "Don't like shoes."

Todoroki-san is at the threshold of the room, grumbling. "Yeah, yeah. Welcome home."

* * *

_A/N: __This brings an end to the interlude, Seasonals. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Four seasons and a world of change. Four seasons, and four kinds of love. The Todorokis, Inasa, Shinsou, and the Izumis. They're all kind of mixed together throughout the chapters, but they were important moments for me to write. I hope you've enjoyed them._

_And I know this is pretty out of character for Endeavor, but hopefully you've understood the trajectory he's on in this story by now. Maybe it's not realistic, but I'm going with what seems right to me from my own knowledge. In the end this is all fictional, though. _

_If you recognized the Water Hose team, then you knew this would eventually come up. I'm sorry, but this was one of the events I planned from the start. _

_On a lighter note, the next chapter we will finally, FINALLY, move onto UA. Specifically the entrance exam. Godspeed, Aizawa._


	16. Book 3: Avalanche - Starting Lines

As much as Toph has been looking forward to this moment, she feels hollowed out that morning. It's not a good way to start the entrance exam, but it's the truth. And there's nothing that the Todorokis could do to fix it. She has never been more certain of her future until now, and yet it's still blatantly, awfully marred by the absence of the Water Hose team. It's only been a few days, so maybe she'll get used to the gap in her life with time.

For now, it's less complicated to pretend the hole in her heart isn't there.

Toph shuffles into an enormous auditorium alongside her best friend, letting his excitement leak into her own state of mind. Inasa Yoarashi is a force of nature on his own, and Toph falls into his whirlwind of enthusiasm like a pebble in a landslide. "Man, look at all these _hot-blooded_ hero hopefuls!" Inasa must be grinning like mad. "I just love it. We're gonna be heroes, Toph! _Heroes!_"

She breaks into a grin, something effortless around Inasa. "Hot-blooded? That's a strange way to put it."

"But it _works_, Toph. That's what you have to be, to be a hero! Endeavor, All Might—they love justice! They're _passionate_! They'll do anything to win! It's their hot-blooded-ness that makes them the greatest!" He hooks an arm around her in a brief hug. "And who's more passionate than us?! No one! You're gonna do great!"

"So will you," Toph rolls her eyes. Now that the written exam is over, they're going to be briefed on the rules of the practical exam. She lets Inasa find her seat assignment, though Toph was given a tablet with access to all the information she needed in braille. "_Hey_," she says warningly, catching his elbow before he leaves. "I dunno what the test will be, but you know—"

"Aw, c'mon Toph! You know me!" Inasa insists. "I'll stay out of your zone, and you'll stay outta mine! Easy-peasy, you'll know I'm near if the wind's too hard!"

"We're judged separately, so don't count on _me_ to save your ass," Toph reminds him anyway. She's not even sure how the exam works, but better safe than sorry.

"If only my ass were that lucky," he quips back.

"...What?" Toph asks after a perplexed moment.

"I-I'm kidding, Toph!" Inasa laughs loudly. He squeezes her hand once before twittering off to his place like a bird. He's somewhere off eight or nine rows below her, and parts with an excited "Good luck!" that Toph returns, albeit much quieter.

Her face is definitely still red. Toph would rather not examine the reasons behind it.

The auditorium very noisy, but that's expected with over a thousand students in one room. Toph is much better at navigating in crowds these days, though, and she can pick out Twinkletoes's eager chatter with the person next to him. Actually, he's not the only one Toph can pick out. Up in the right corner of the room is a deep, sharp tone, but what really gives it away as Tenya Iida is the fact that he's giving bossy orders to random people around him.

She should've expected Iida to go to UA. Toph isn't sure why he didn't go through the recommended students exam, though. Maybe he wanted to prove himself the normal way, like Toph. Endeavor couldn't give a recommendation for another student in the same year as Shouto, but he could have had his agency 'distinguish' her. The whole idea feels like a cop-out to Toph, because there were only a handful of students tested at a time, and (maybe arrogantly) Toph think it'd be too easy to stand out with so little competition. The normal exam was harder—not just because the practical portion was a free for all among hundreds, but because her written exam was weighed heavily too. Toph's scores are kind of average, but she'd been studying a lot in the weeks before the exam (plus that's all Todoroki-san allowed her to do once she moved in). And as for the practical portion… well, Toph's a good fighter, but she's never actually _distinguished_ herself in a legal or official capacity. Now's as good a time as any.

Either way, Toph dismisses Iida—this is exam day, and Toph can feel a visceral need to _crush_ all the competition rise in her chest.

"Beifong?" Someone says suddenly, stopping at the empty seat beside her. Toph lights up.

"Shinsou," she greets, holding out a fist. He fist-bumps her and sits down, fidgeting. They must arranged by school districts. "What'd you think of the written test?" she asks, knowing that mentioning the practical exam right now would probably turn him into a nervous wreck. They both now she's a better physical fighter than him, and he's not one of the people Toph needs to totally annihilate.

"Not too bad," he admits, scratching his neck. "I think I did fine…" He clears his throat. "Um. Sorry about… telling Endeavor," he adds lamely.

Toph just shakes her head. She last saw Shinsou at the Izumis' funeral just four days ago, and it hadn't been the right time to confront him about the whole Quirk Rumble thing. Now's not the time either, but she reassures him anyway. "It's already done. I'm not mad about it."

He relaxes minutely beside her. "Are you in trouble?"

"Oh yeah," Toph reveals with a grimace. "I'll tell you about it later," she promises. The less time she spends thinking about the Izumis and the Todorokis, the better she'll be able to focus on the exam.

If she didn't have the exam to focus on right now, Toph thinks she might just shrivel up and turn to dust.

Kouta didn't attend his parents' funeral.

Toph glares at her desk, nostrils flaring. Man. She can't afford to keep flip-flopping through emotions like this, it's messed up. Shinsou elbows her roughly, and eases the tension building in her temples a little. "Let's meet after the exam," he suggests.

"Can't," Toph mutters back, though she appreciates the gesture. "But I'll text you."

Just then Present Mic enters the room, screaming, and the majority of students quiets down as he enthusiastically explains the guidelines of the test, which is basically:

Robots, each with different point values. Ten minutes to gain as many points as possible.

_That's it?_ Toph's a little surprised.

Shinsou… is not well. By the end of the explanation, his heart beat is so erratic Toph has to stop listening for it. "We're in different locations," he says, and she has to give it to the guy—Shinsou sounds pretty unaffected when he speaks. "I guess they trying to avoid biases among students that know each other. You're in Battle City A, I'm in C… I'm so fucked," he groans, head in his hands. "_Robots_. I can't even…"

She reaches out and holds his shoulder firmly. "You've always known it was going to be harder for you to reach your goals… This is just the first step."

"C'mon Toph," he says, bitterness leaking into his tone. "You're probably going to max out the point-count system. If this is the first step, I've already—already _failed_. This exam isn't meant for me—"

"This exam is meant for _heroes_," Toph retorts, brow furrowing. _Like you,_ she thinks.

"Which is why it doesn't make any _sense_," Shinsou mutters angrily. As he speaks, Tenya Iida leaps to his feet to shout a question at Present Mic about zero-pointers.

"What do you mean?" Toph raises her eyebrows, focusing on Shinsou. Iida is reprimanding someone for muttering too loudly—yeesh.

The tired boy shakes his head. "I dunno, I didn't expect UA to be just for the flashy villain-fighting heroes. Over 60% of heroes are classified as _rescue heroes_, so I though..." He huffs, folding his arms. "Forget it. It was just wishful thinking." Shinsou admits dismissively.

But Toph isn't so sure anymore. "You're right," She frowns thoughtfully. "I mean, how often does the average hero go up against anything like this?" Her mind drifts to Muscular, the S-Class villain that showed up out of nowhere. The Izumis were prepared, but an opponent like that had been a statistical anomaly. "And... it's never just about stopping the villains," Toph adds softly. "There's always more at stake."

Shinsou is quiet, but he seems to pick up on what she's thinking of. "A real hero doesn't _just_ stop villains," he agrees in a subdued tone. "...Maybe there's more to this exam then getting points." He muses, but then he gives a heavy sigh. "Even then, I'm not cut out for something so flashy. I don't mean to be _jealous_ or anything, but—"

"I know, I really do have a good quirk for this," Toph cuts in brusquely. She might even get some metal-bending to work on their opponents, but it'll depend on how thickly they robots are armored. "That doesn't mean _you'll_ fail. Don't sell yourself short, Snoozles, we're _both_ going to become heroes."

"Could I borrow your confidence for a while?" Shinsou laughs half-heartedly, getting to his feet with the rest of the students.

"Only if you give me your resting bitch face," Toph replies, following him. "If I could scare off everyone with a look, I'd be _unstoppable_."

"Exactly why I can't share the secret," Shinsou points out solemnly. "No one human should hold such immense power."

Toph flashes him a grin, and whacks him on the back heartily. "Good luck, ya meathead. Don't fall asleep during the test."

He snorts. "I'd tell you the same, but I'd rather take all the luck I can get. Go break a leg so I can steal your spot."

Toph's grin turns sharp. "Oh, you _are_ lucky. If we were in the same city I'd let a zero-pointer _crush you_."

"Ha ha," he deadpans. "I'm _so_ scared. If only you could see me face, you'd know how _intimidating_ you are." He cackles as Toph takes a swipe at him, missing him by a hair. "Later, Beifong."

Toph just smiles to herself as they part ways. Present Mic is corralling students into the entry point for City A, and she takes a moment to stretch her arms and legs. Funny enough, Inasa is in the same city as her, but he doesn't bother approaching. He's talking to someone loudly about his favorite passionate hero—currently he's into Hawks, no surprise there—but Toph does her best to pull her attention away.

The city is built from mostly concrete, and she's already close enough to identify the various robots clambering around. The chatter falls away, leaving only the land and Toph's feet. There's hundreds of them to fight, if she has the mobility to reach them. Some are already climbing towers, crumbling fake office buildings here and there.

She's just thinking about how many structures Cementoss has built for the school when Present Mic screeches, "Okay, _START_!"

The earthbender lets loose, jettisoning forward when the ground pushes under her feet. Some are slow to start, but not many. Inasa's already gone from her sight and there's a series of crackling explosions on her left quickly propelling ahead. Whoever it is, they're a nuisance. Their quirk is so loud they should be cited for noise pollution.

Toph does her best to map out the streets before her, and the robots approaching. Her feet slam downward, and the earth juts up in a pointed pillar, directly through the center of a 2-point bot.

_Oh_, Toph realizes with great relish. The pillar, simply formed from Cementoss's pavement, cuts through the machine like a knife through butter. She barrels through another bot with a boulder. Takes out a three-pointer with the same boulder, flinging it back like an especially unwieldy boomerang. The robots might be big and clunky, _but they're practically hollow._

This is probably as close to euphoria as Toph's ever been. Saying that her quirk was a good fit for this test was an _understatement_.

Toph beams like a maniac, pummeling robots left and right. She loses track after twenty points, too busy pulling up a sidewalk to literally pull the ground out from under a few bots. The only thing holding her back from completely dominating the city is the other examinees, fluttering around with all the effectiveness of fruit flies. She pauses one attack to redirect a pillar towards a building, where a support beam was compromised.

"Move, idiots!" Toph barks at two strangers, bumbling around under the shadow of an unsafe building. They begin to scramble out of the danger zone, but Toph tears off the arm of a three-pointer and wedges it against the crumbling edifice just to be safe.

Toph wipes dust from her face and moves on. There's four more bots in the next alley, and Toph dashes off with a huge grin on her face. She's mostly been using earthbending to hit the robots from a distance, but she's been itching to test out her fists against metal. So she lets a one-pointer in close, barely dodging its arm swinging towards her. As Toph moves, she gives the bot a few knocks with her palms, testing out the tinny, teeth-vibrating shockwaves it creates.

The bot reaches for her with a clawed leg, and Toph side-steps it to bring its center mass within range. Not even hesitating, she punches with her fist—feeling, warping, bending the metal in the same movement—and the bot staggers and freezes with her arm up to the elbow in its wiring. _Ow_, okay, it's a little more brittle than Toph would prefer.

Yanking her arm out, Toph slams it downward, then backward, manhandling the bot into a manageable hunk of sparking metal. Before her are more bots, but other examinees are quickly trying to confront them.

Then they activate the zero-pointer.

Toph didn't notice it, laying dormant and half-concealed by a building, but it's unfolding itself now, large enough to shake the earth. On the other side of the city there's another, but it's too far to worry about.

It's much, much larger that the other robots, towering over the highest building. But Toph can feel its shape. It's built sturdier, but the material is the same. Toph doesn't have time to metal-bend the machine, there's only four or five minutes left in the test. She'd need to build up a lot of force with a boulder to bring it down; not worth the energy.

Examinees begin to warn each other and retreat to other roads, but the zero-pointer is fast. She can't feel Inasa's wind, so she assumes he's clustered with other examinees on the far side of the city.

There's still bots she wants to take down herself in this street, and several students are having trouble maneuvering around the broken robots and rubble. Toph slams her hands down, forcing hunks of earth to shift and push away rubble to clear more pathways. Someone shouts a battle cry in the distance, still fighting, but the zero-pointer's so high up, it'll probably knock them down before they can reach its body. Besides, he's going for the smaller bots, trying to take them out before the zero-pointer reaches him. Still, the robot's reach was far. He'll get trapped sooner or later.

Just to prove her point, the zero-pointer punches the earth, blowing dust and rubble everywhere. If someone hasn't been hit already, they will be if the bot isn't stopped.

But who said Toph had to be close enough to reach its head? And who says she needs to use a boulder?

She has a perfectly sturdy projectile right at her feet.

Toph takes a deep breath. Rears back—

_BANG!_

She front-kicks the remnants of one-pointer down the street with _wicked_ force, shooting it like a bullet from a gun. The projectile nicks two smaller bots, knocking them out of commission—and slowing it down. The spear-shaped bot still has enough force to pierce through the outer shell of the zero-pointer, but it only staggers back a little.

"Shit," Toph scowls. Well, she can't just half-ass it like that. Toph dashes forward, foot aching like a _bitch_. She kicks up a chunk of rubble created by the zero-pointer and vaults it into the same spot—it slams against the metal spear and finally tears the zero-point bot into two.

"What the FUCK?!" A boy screams. "Don't take my kills, you showboat!"

"But it's not worth anything?!" Toph yells back, breaking off to the left to tackle more two-pointers. The zero-pointer took a lot of her energy, exhaustion creeping over her now. Definitely not worth the effort, but now there were eight bots in the street and only one person left to fight over the points.

She thinks the boy hollers back, but then he's right in front of her, blowing up one of the two pointers before she can. Toph tears apart the other bot before he can reach it.

"_Out of my way_!"

"Out of _my_ way!" Toph shrieks, finally distracted enough to ignore a robot for the explosion kid.

"_TIME'S UP!_" Present Mic bellows, and an alarm echoes over the demolished city.

"FUCK!" The boy howls.

Toph slumps, letting herself lean against some rubble and just breath. How many points was it overall? She took down at least forty bots, but Toph doesn't remember what type each one was. "Ow," she mutters to herself, lifting her right foot. The adrenaline's wearing off now, and not only her foot hurts. Her arms ache fiercely, her knuckles are raw and her shoulders burn. But her foot is the worst. _It can't be broken_, she reasons, _I was still running on it for a minute or two._

"_You_!" A low voice growls at her. The explosion boy stalks towards Toph. Funny, his voice is _kinda_ familiar, but she doesn't know anyone with a quirk like his.

"What?" Toph's eyes narrow, and she lets her right heel press against the ground—ow, _no_, bad Toph.

"The fuck was _that_ with the zero-pointer?!" Suddenly he snatches the front of her shirt, lifting her up towards him. "Trying to show me up, you _extra?!_"

Toph staggers, barely keeping her footing. "Extra?! Get _off_ me, dickhead!" She braces her forearm over his chest, pushing across his collarbone to create some breathing room. _Ow, ow, ow_, her hands hurt. "Let _go_ of me!" Suddenly the boy freezes.

"Are you _blind?!_" He screams at her.

"Are you _deaf?!_ I said let _go!_" Toph shrieks right back. _Why does he smell like a bakery?_

"_How_ the fuck are you even _allowed_ in this test, huh?!"

Wow. Fuck this guy. She can hear other students approaching, and Toph does not care. She switches her grip, pulling him close—_oh wow he really does smell sweet_—and _chomps down_ on the back of his hand.

"AHH! You _bitch!_" He shoves her back, and Toph actually does fall this time rather than put pressure on her foot. "You fucking bit me? What the hell _are_ you?!"

"Better than _you_, that's for sure," Toph hisses, and then a burst of light wind ruffles her bangs. Inasa touches down just a few meters away. Explosion boy makes a choking sound.

"Toph!" Inasa cheers. "Hey! _Oh my gosh you broke your foot!_"

"Did _not_," Toph hobbles to her feet. Her shirt's all damp now, what's that about? Was that from Explodo-boy?

"YOU! You're that _water freak!_ From the beach!" The strangers points accusingly at Inasa. "_I'll kill you!_"

"Ah—" Inasa makes an odd noise. "Uhh _nooo_…. Maybe… _yes-sorry-but-that's-a-cool-quirk-though?_"

"Of course it is, you extra!" The boy howls. Inasa doesn't flinch, but he does laugh nervously, stepping in front of Toph. "Whatever! Fuck this!" he growls, stomping off.

Toph shoves the hair out of her sweaty face, reaching out to brace herself against Inasa. "Is my foot really broken?" She asks the airbender tiredly.

"I think so!" Inasa exclaims. "But no worries! Recovery Girl can fix you!"

"Did she already heal you?" Toph asks, hobbling alongside him. "You don't seem hurt at all."

"Ah, no—" Inasa huffs, "Guess I was more careful than you, eh? That's no surprise."

His tone is off, somehow, but Toph can't figure out why. Then Recovery Girl smacks a kiss on her leg, and Toph's too tired to care.

* * *

In the control room amongst UA's teachers sits Aizawa, glaring morosely at the destruction on the screens. The exam has just finished, but there's always the most calamity in the last moment of the test. Some boy in a teal tracksuit obliterated a zero-pointer in one punch, shattering his limbs. And a girl split a zero-pointer in half, though it took longer and she also manages to crush her foot.

"The eggs look promising this year," Kayama clasps her hands together in delight. "Such passion!"

"That's one word for it," Aizawa muses. I'd call it hubris, he thinks, eyeing the short girl in City A. Or idiocy, he adds, noting the trembling boy in a tracksuit.

Vlad King is staring avidly at footage from City C, grinning at the rescue work of a lanky student. Aizawa narrows his eyes at the fellow teacher. He's had his eye on a few in City C too. This is a fairly new experience, the two of them having to negotiate over which student goes to which class. Aizawa usually doesn't care so much... no, he _still_ doesn't care, what is he thinking?

"Oi, oi, what're they doing?" Cementoss says worriedly, pointing at City A again. A blond boy is confronting the earth girl, grabbing the front of her shirt. She pushes back, yelling—and then bites him.

The argument breaks up before it devolves further, but Aizawa isn't impressed. He awarded rescue points for her actions during the test, but he almost wants to take it back now. At least he didn't give any rescue points to the blond. Still, Aizawa knows better. He can't continue to evaluate the students once the ten minutes are up.

The Erasure Hero flips through a tablet of student files, finding the earth girl, Toph Beifong, and the explosion boy, Katsuki Bakugou. _I guess I'll just have to evaluate them in class_, he decides, placing marks on each of their files. After another moment, he flips to City B and highlights Izuku Midoriya as well. He's sensing a pattern. _Hope I get the purple kid too, he seems reasonable._

"Oh, what did you think of Young—uh, Mido-ri-ya?" All Might asks out of the blue, reading out the student's name with exaggerated slowness. "Quite an interesting student, r-right?"

Aizawa doesn't have any idea why All Might looks so awkward, but he also does not care at all. He glances at the student's file apathetically. "He's one of only two students that successfully took down a zero-point robot," Aizawa states the obvious.

"Yes! He is! Very unusual for more than one student to confront that obstacle to begin with—"

"At least the girl didn't shatter three limbs to do it," He grumbles, cutting off the number one hero. "He better shape up. I don't coddle my students."

Eraserhead realizes his words just as it dawns on All Might, and the hero grins blindingly, still an effective weapon in his smaller form. "Oh! You're already thinking about which ones will be in your class!"

Aizawa stares at All Might expressionlessly, making the blonde man falter. Internally, though, Aizawa's just annoyed at being called out.

* * *

_"HA HA HA!"_ All Might's deep laughter echoes through the house, startling Fuyumi.

"Are you kidding me?" Toph screeches from the kitchen. "They sent a _hologram?!_"

"It's All Might though!" Natsuo exclaims in sinister delight as Fuyumi rushes in. "Wait, wait, let's wait till Dad's home—" Fuyumi shoots the white-haired boy a disapproving look.

"I'm not waiting so you can all see something," Toph rolls her eyes, smacking the projector again to resume the message. "Everyone shut it."

_"HA HA HA! TOPH BEIFONG!"_ The All Might projection addresses the girl. Fuyumi watches Toph from the corner of her eye, pleased by the wonder emerging on the teen's face though she quickly tries to conceal it. _"Congratulations young lady! You performed spectacularly in the exam, scoring sixty villain points! That alone would put you in the Top Ten! But WAIT! There's MORE!—Ah,_" All Might seems to falter after hearing something off-screen, as the image switches to footage from the exam.

Natsuo and Shouto perk up in interest, quietly explaining to Toph what they're seeing.

All Might continues. _"Blind? Shouldn't we just send an audio recordin—? If you say so... Well! Throughout the exam, Young Beifong, you showed a keen awareness of your fellow students, keeping them from harm's way! And, though your quirk can cause a great deal of destruction, you did minimal damage to the city with it, choosing to exploit existing rubble and clearing paths for others! Brilliant work!"_ He laughs again as the footage rolls, and Fuyumi lets out an audible gasp as a huge robot appears at the end of the street. _"And let's not forget your admirable take-down of the zero-pointer! But—you may be asking yourself—none of that got you any points!_

_"But you would be WRONG! Because you see…"_ he pauses dramatically, and Natsuo rolls his eyes. _"We also award RESCUE POINTS!"_

"Is he always so excited?" Toph makes a face, carefully lowering the volume on the projector.

"You _should_ be excited!" Natsuo grins at the two younger kids. "Fuyumi, you missed Shouto's letter, he's in class 1-A!" He informs her.

"That's amazing," Fuyumi smiles at Shouto, and he ducks his head.

"_That's right, rescue points! And for your deeds, we've awards you TWENTY more points, giving you a total of EIGHTY POINTS! That places you at the very top of the exam! YOUNG BEIFONG, WELCOME TO CLASS 1-A! WELCOME TO YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!_" All Might strikes a dramatic pose. Fuyumi's heart is pounding at the intensity. What a hero.

Toph shuts off the projector as soon as he gets the words out, startling Fuyumi again. Natsuo makes a noise of complaint. "Alright, that's enough yelling for me." She flashes a grin and elbows Shouto. "Class 1-A, huh?"

"Congratulations," Shouto smiles back.

"AHH! I'm so proud of you guys!" Natsuo cackles gathering both of them into a hug. "Good luck at UA, brats!" Toph sticks out her tongue, but Shouto leans into the embrace.

Fuyumi smiles behind her fingers. She wishes Dad were here to congratulate them, though she's not sure how receptive Shouto would be. Or how nice Dad would behave, now that All Might's apparently teaching at his alma mater. But either way, he's not in the house this evening. Her brothers don't know, but Enji did confide in Fuyumi about his periodic absences when they first began, and she's tremendously grateful for the trust.

She takes out her phone, figuring a text message wouldn't be too disruptive. **Toph & Shouto are in 1-A together!** Fuyumi hits send before she can second-guess herself. She takes a picture of the two kids (and Natsuo harassing them) and sends it too.

The reply comes back a few minutes later as Fuyumi sorts through the fridge.

_**Good. Please print that picture for her.**_

**Of course! **Fuyumi replies. _Mom's going to be so proud._

* * *

_"You're in 1-B."_

Inasa gulps down his anxiety. There's no way to miss the disappointment in her tone. "Uh, yep! But that's okay, I'm super-glad you have Shouto with you! I'll be just down the hall—we'll probably have joint training with your clas—"

_"Twinkletoes,"_ Toph sighs. _"What happened during the test?"_

He balks, but they're talking on the phone so she can't notice it. "What do you mean? I smashed a bunch of robots for points!"

_"How many points?"_

The airbender presses his lips together at the question. Of course Toph could tell. It's Toph. He tried to stay away from her area during the test—and he tried his best during the test as well! He tried. He really did. But in the end he barely scraped by with enough points to make it into the hero course, a measly thirty-five.

_"Inasa,"_ Toph says in a low voice. _"Tell me what's wrong. Please."_

"It's—" But the words are caught in his throat. He hasn't been able to articulate the problem for a while now. And in the exam, the way the robots crumbled buildings, rattled the earth—he remembers the sparks crackling to life in Bakugou's hands, the sun beating down on his back. "It's just…"

it wasn't just the water that called to Inasa these days.

There had been twelve other children besides Inasa and Toph in Cato Hospital. None of them had any lasting injuries from the experiments. But they all remembered what they went through. There was no physical injuries to any of the kids. But Inasa remembered being hurt. He remembers being put back together, again and again.

And Inasa isn't supposed to know, but several of the kids were having issues with their quirks, even years later. They were too scared to use them, or in some cases, they simply didn't work anymore. Just because they were put back together doesn't mean it was done properly.

Inasa _knows_ what he is. And he doesn't deserve what he'd been given. Not while he knew the cost.

He wants to be a hero so badly. But not like this. _Never like this_. He pushes it down, suppressed the unnaturalness of his actions whenever he can. And his air quirk is suffering because of it.

Inasa runs a hand over his face, sighing. "It's just bad luck, Toph," he huffs. "I wasn't as strong against those things as I thought I'd be!"

After a moment of tense silence Toph relents, sighing dramatically. "_I was looking forward to being in your class, Airhead!"_ She admits mournfully. _"You better catch up to me, Yoarashi, because I'm not going to wait around for you."_

Inasa laughs freely, always up for the challenge. Though, a part of him is thankful he's not in Toph's class. The more she saw of his quirk, the more likely she is to notice how odd it's been acting. "At least you know Shouto in your class, right? You won't be alone!"

_"Uh huh. Neither will you,"_ Toph says dryly.

"Eh?"

_"Hitoshi is in your class,"_ she reveals smugly. Inasa's stomach does a swooping sort of tumble. _"Now you'll have to get along. Or else."_

"Oh," his voice is about three octaves higher than normal. "That's… that." Now Inasa really doesn't know how to feel. He met Hitoshi on only one occasion, and there hadn't been much room to get to know each other: at the Izumis' funerals. It hadn't been that bad to look at the boy, though. Shinsou was a funny guy, a little ill-mannered the same way Shouto is. They're not friends, but maybe Toph's right, and they will be. "That's great news for him," Inasa says finally. "Tell him for me?"

_"I will. Congrats, Twinkletoes,"_ she says softly. _"We're—We're really doing it. Becoming heroes."_

He grins into his phone, practically melting at the wonder in her quiet voice. "Yeah, Toph. We're on our way."

* * *

Shouto's first day of high school passes in one long stream of events melding into each other. He's never been to a public school, so it's all a little overwhelming. If he could re-do one thing, he would pay more attention to everyone's names.

He and Toph arrive together at the gate of UA in a shiny silver car. As they exit, Shouto sees a jet-black sedan speed away, and a tall girl with a ponytail standing on the sidewalk. She notices him before he can look away—she was a recommended student, he recalls.

"Oh, Todoroki-san, right?" She lights up eagerly, approaching them with a tentative smile.

"Yes," Shouto nods. "I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."

"Th-that's okay. I'm simply not as… memorable as you." She looks away. Todoroki supposes she's right, his scar and hair are quite unique. "Um, but I'm Momo Yaoyorozu!" She gives a short formal bow, and he can see Toph's unimpressed look. The ponytail girl looks past Shouto to Toph—and with despair, he can see the exact moment it occurs to the stranger that Toph is blind, because her face immediately switches to pity. "Oh my…. Who's this girl, Todoroki-san? Your sister, you're helping her to class?"

Todoroki gives Yaoyorozu an equally pitying look and shakes his head.

"This _girl_ is Toph Beifong, and I can answer questions just fine on my own," the earth girl answers curtly, eyebrow raised. She walks towards the front door, and Shouto follows. Yaoyorozu is nice, but he doesn't quite know what to say to her.

"Oh, sorry for the mistake," Yaoyorozu catches up, looking between Shouto and Toph questioningly. "But—I know your family, the Beifongs from Gaoling, yes? I had no idea they had a daughter my age!"

"No," Shouto interrupts before Toph can, watching her face flush with emotion. Mostly anger. Thankfully, he's learned a lot about defusing Toph Beifong over the past few years. "Those Beifongs don't have a daughter."

Yaoyorozu blinks in surprise, but clearly realizes another question about it would not be welcome. It's not really Yaoyorozu's fault, but she happened to press all the wrong buttons in the span of a few minutes. "Oh, n-nevermind then. So. What classes are you guys in?" She tries one more time, and Shouto thanks Kami for the change in topic.

"We're both in 1-A," Toph answers for them both, blowing at the bangs in her face. Todoroki glances at the building directory and takes a left turn. "So are you, right?"

"Yes," Yaoyoro—wow, it's tiring to say that, Shouto ought to switch to her first name—Momo exclaims, clasping her hands together. "Oh, wow, that's _wonderful_, Beifong-san. Todoroki-san. I look forward to our time together!"

He nods. Toph rolls her eyes. "Ok then, _Sugar Queen_."

"Here's the door! Oh, it's so large, I suppose that's to accommodate all types of quirks?" Momo muses. Then she freezes, glancing at Toph. "Wait, what did you call me?"

Toph pushes the door open without answering, stepping into—chaos.

"—insist that you _remove_ your legs from the desk immediately! These desks have been used by _generations_ of heroes and—"

"Oi, oi, oi!" A blond boy pulls his legs off his desk to stand, staring directly at the small blind girl next to Todoroki. "Sure you're in the right room, _Earth Girl?_ Didn't you _read the sign?_" He sneers.

_Is this a school bully?_ Todoroki muses to himself. _He's shown his colors so quickly._

Toph goes rigid for a moment, then she just turns to Shouto, genuine curiosity on her innocent face. "Hey, did you hear a fart?"

_Oh Kami,_ Shouto prays as the blond boy's desk bursts into flames. _Why couldn't I be in 1-B?_ A few students begin to snicker from their desks, whispering loudly amongst themselves.

"YOU WANNA GO, BLIND BITCH?!" The blond screeches, lunging forward.

The tall boy in glasses shoves himself between the two students, and Todoroki moves to hook his arms under Toph before she can try to earthbend anyone into the classroom below theirs. "I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN ANY DAY OF THE WEEK, SPARKY!"

The door slides open behind Shouto, and the blond's eyes dart to the newcomer. "Ah! _Kacchan?!_"

"DEKU?!" He sounds even madder now. "THE _FUCK_ ARE YOU DOING HERE?"!

The person behind Todoroki begins to babble in fright. This whole situation is so confusing. Shouto's never been to a public school before. He wonders if they're all this hectic or if it's just this high school in particular? All he knows is that it's quite early. If he were still being homeschooled he would be sleeping right now.

While Todoroki mourns his lack of sleep, his friend hisses like a rabid animal. "What the fuck's a Deku?!" Toph howls, squirming in Shouto's grip. "Let me _go_ so I can kill Blasty!"

"I'll kill you _first!"_ Blasty screeches back, though he doesn't try to get in front of the glasses kid, preferring to foam at the mouth from a distance.

Since Blasty's not attacking, Shouto lowers Toph until her feet touch the ground again. "You realize this is the first day you're off the hook," he tells the girl quietly, reminding her of the six months of house arrest she just completed. It was awful waiting around at home the day the Izumis died, not knowing what Toph had been doing all that time but knowing she was furious enough to get herself into trouble. Shouto was over it by now, but that didn't mean Toph gets a free pass to fly off the handle again. "Don't get suspended on the first day of class."

"Fuck you too, IcyHot," Toph pouts, straightening out her jacket and stepping back. "What's your problem, _Sweaty Hands?_" She demands, pointing a finger at the blond. "You've been on my case since the exam!"

The boy stares at her, furious all over again. Todoroki might be alarmed by the anger on his face, but he can't help but think it's hilarious that Toph has no concept of fear. "_Sweaty Hands?!_ Who the fuck do you think—"

"I don't even know your name!" Toph complains, cutting him off. "So just fuck off, or I'll _make_ you fuck off."

Sweaty Hands splutters. "What does that even _mean?_ You're gonna _fight_ me?!"

"Only if you _ask for it!_"

"_Please stop this at once!_" The glasses kid cries out, making a slicing move with his hands. "This is _unacceptable_ _behavior_ from UA's top students! Class hasn't even _started_ yet!"

"Ah shut it, Glasses!" Sweaty Hands barks at Glasses, throwing himself back into his seat. He props his feet back up onto his desk defiantly, garnering Glasses' attention once more. "You're not the boss of me, _Private School_."

_I should probably learn their names,_ Shouto thinks to himself.

Toph rolls her eyes, turning away from the two kids. "You know where my seat is, Shouto? Otherwise I'll look it up." UA sent her an 'accessible tablet' last week, equipped with most of the information she'd need to look through before attending. The surface was malleable enough to create multiple braille patterns, essentially creating an entirely haptic version of a smartscreen.

But there's also a seating chart by the door for all the sighted people, which is a lot quicker to look through. Todoroki taps his nails on a desk in the back row, and Toph nods in appreciation. Momo is already in her seat, having snuck past the chaos peacefully, and Shouto takes the desk beside her, between the two people he knows by name.

Thankfully, Toph ignores the other students—especially Glasses and Blasty—as the remaining kids trickle into the classroom.

"This is a strange class," Momo comments, softly amazed. She glances at Todoroki, so he assumes she's talking to him.

"Maybe UA is just strange," he proposes in return. "I wouldn't know."

"At least it's interesting?" She offers a wry smile, looking just as unsure as he feels about school. He remembers the jet-black sedan she arrived in. She also clasps her hands daintily, like Fuyumi tends to do. Maybe…

"Yaoyorozu," he repeats, mostly to himself. It's a familiar family name too. Momo looks up inquisitively. "You've never been to a public school."

"Ah," She nervously pushes a lock of hair behind her ear. "I-Is it that obvious?"

"No, that was just a guess," Todoroki admits, a little startled. He didn't think he'd be right, but at least he's not alone. Toph snorts from his other side. Momo looks confused now, but he doesn't get the chance to explain—a yellow sleeping bag inches into the classroom, and their homeroom teacher emerges from it like a huge, human-sized moth. Aizawa reprimands them all squabbling so loudly he could hear it down the hallway, and then orders them all to get changed into gym clothes instead of attending the opening ceremony.

They do a quirk evaluation, and Aizawa promises to expel the weakest student. Momo proves again to be very resourceful, just as he remembers from their exam. Shouto and Toph don't have trouble passing either. He learns that Glasses is Tenya Iida when he greets Toph, but Shouto's a little unclear on how they already know each other.

"Went to school with him for a while," Beifong admits begrudgingly, picking at dirt under her nails. Shouto waited for more, but that's all Toph says on the matter.

A nice round-faced girl breaks the record for the ball toss, so Shouto now knows her as Infinity Girl. A green-haired boy breaks his finger doing the ball toss. And then Sweaty Hands tries to obliterate the green boy, calling him a 'deku', and Aizawa erases his quirk, thus introducing himself as the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead.

"Oh, and I lied about expelling the student in last place," Aizawa adds as an afterthought, and a truly manic grin stretches over the man's tired face. Todoroki is oddly reminded of Shinsou. "It was a logical ruse."

The class is understandably distraught as they shuffle back into their school uniforms. Todoroki had believe Aizawa too, but he hadn't been very worried about his own position in class, so it didn't matter in the end. The grape boy seemed especially frazzled by the whole experience.

Almost immediately, Sweaty Hands stirs up a ruckus in the locker room. Shouto doesn't see it coming, unfortunately, and is rather blindsided when the grape boy slams upside-down into the locker next to him. Todoroki shoves his pants on, figuring he'd rather be clothed properly if this escalated further.

"Bakugou!" Someone shouts in protest. "This is _crazy_!"

"Grape fucker got what was coming to him!" Sweaty—Bakugou—hollers at a six-armed student. "Shitstain's been _bothering_ me all day about bullshit! Fucking _perv_!"

The explosive blond catches Todoroki's eye, and something about the look on his face alerts him to something deeper about this argument. He turns to the short grape boy in question.

"What's your deal, Bakugou?! I just wanted to know how you keep getting the hot girls to talk to you!" The small boy snaps, valiantly struggling out of the locker. Shouto feels a deep-seated primal urge arise from the pit of his stomach. He's not sure what it's telling him to do yet. "Have you copped a feel from the blind one yet?"

Before he knows it, Todoroki shuts the locker and ices over the handle.

"_TODOROKI_!" Iida gasps in horror. "You can't _do_ that to a student—!"

"Are you going to let him out?" He asks evenly, piercing the taller boy with a steady look. Todoroki wouldn't say he's angry. No, this is more visceral, more abrupt than the steady simmer of his usual frustration. "He's talking about Beifong."

"I—I should—" Iida's face contorts in distress. "He was absolutely _despicable_—Beifong and the other girls must be respected—but that does _not_ excuse—" He looks like an error sign on a laptop now. "I—won't let him—"

"I say we leave him till the ice melts," A bird-headed boy murmurs wisely. "A few moments in the dark may be enough to pay for passage in the light."

"That's so _manly_," A redhead whispers. "Tokoyami's right, the ice will melt. Let's just get to class."

Shouto shrugs. He doesn't catch Bakugou's eye again, but there's a shift in atmosphere among the students. A good one. He exits the locker room and finds his friend waiting for him down the hall, slouched against a wall.

"You sure took your time," she notes sourly, fiddling with the elastic in her hair.

"Did you hear any of us?" Shouto asks, somewhat worried.

"Why the hell would I want to listen?" Toph crosses her arms, leaning towards Shouto as they walk down the corridor. "Aizawa's a piece of work. I don't think he decided not to expel anyone until the very _end_ of the test. This place is so weird."

Shouto nods his wholehearted agreement. They walk at an even pace, just a little behind their peers for privacy. Most of the students are discussing each others' powers, completely overlooking the grape left in the locker room. "At least it's interesting," he echoes Momo's words as they walk back to the classroom.

"You know what's _more_ interesting?" Toph whips around, a sharp look crossing her face. "The fact that you didn't use your fire at _all_ for those tests."

It's a good thing Toph is blind, because Shouto's so surprised by the turn in conversation he has no idea what his face looks like. "It... wasn't _necessary_." Something pulls at his chest as he says it, the lie gnawing at him uncomfortably. As much as Shouo trusts Toph, it's hard to articulate what he means, or the aching frustration he feels about his left side.

"Seems like a good source of propulsion," Toph counters lightly, cracking her knuckles. "Y'know, for those tests you sucked in, like the standing long jump."

"I got second place," he counters, eyes narrowed. That was one of the last tests, and his energy had been flagging at that point. "I did better than _you_ in the long jump."

"And you would've been even better than Blasty if you balanced yourself out with fire," Toph replies adamantly. "Just a thought, Shouto. I don't call you IcyHot for nothing."

Shouto's beginning to understand what Inasa means when he calls Toph _pushy_. "I know," he murmurs. He spent a long time not knowing how to treat his left side—years and years of back and forth with Endeavor, wanting to be just like him and also nothing at all like the man—and even now, Shouto's still figuring out what sort of hero he wants to be.

"I know you want me to use it, and I will," Shouto admits quietly, bumping shoulders with Toph. "But I need time. I'm a little behind, you know." If he's going to use fire, it needs to be in the best way possible—on _Shouto's_ terms. He's been refusing his father's training for the past few years, choosing to develop it on his own instead. It's a slow, sometimes painful process, but Shouto needs it to be this way.

And he's _not_ ready to put it into practice at UA just yet.

The blind girl slumps, her frown melting away like water washing over the shore. "Alright, Todoroki," she punches his arm. "If you need target practice, just know I'll volunteer Twinkletoes _any_ day," Toph vows solemnly.

"Thank you for you _sacrifice_, Beifong," Shouto lets himself smirk as they reenter their classroom and the chaos that is the other 17 students of their class. The green boy who broke a finger staggers into the classroom just before the bell rings, likely exhausted from Recovery Girl's healing. Grape boy comes back halfway through their English lesson, glaring at Todoroki and Bakugou like a furious little ant. The rest of the day passes without much fuss.

Yeah. If Shouto could re-do his first day of school, he would only try harder to learn Green Boy's and Infinity Girl's names. They seemed nice.


	17. B3: Avalanche-The Spirit of Competition

Despite not really knowing each other—though that's totally not _his_ fault, he did try—Shinsou and Yoarashi stick together in 1-B. Hitoshi sits right in front of the airbender anyway, so it's not hard to turn around and (attempt to) strike up a conversation with him.

"Good morning," he says plainly on the second day of school. He only managed to get a few sentences out of the bald kid on the first day, but that was a half day so the odds of more conversation today was _much_ higher.

Yoarashi regards him with slightly-narrowed eyes and pursed lips. "Morning, Shinsou," he relents at last, his shoulders sinking down. His grey eyes dart back up to Hitoshi's face for a moment. "You look tired."

Hitoshi nods. "I don't sleep well at night."

"Is—" Yoarashi taps a finger on his desk erratically. Hitoshi gets the feeling he isn't the only one that received a death threat from an earthbender before the school year began. "Is, uh, that why you're called Snoozles?"

"I fell asleep on the train to school with Beifong," He drawls, keeping his voice even. Privately, he's just relieved Inasa's responding at all. "Standing up. And didn't wake up until the train was attacked by that Giganto-guy."

"Gigantomachia?" Yoarashi perks up with interest. "She told me about that, he ripped the top of the train car off! Sounded like a pretty awesome fight, Toph and I watched the news coverage when he got taken down..." Yoarashi grins, eyes going soft as he recounts the fight. He's not looking at Hitoshi anymore, and the smile on his face is tender. _Because he's thinking of her,_ Hitoshi figures.

An odd surge of enmity trickles through him, shapeless but concentrated like strong coffee. Yoarashi addresses him again. "So you got a nickname from day one, huh?"

He nods, watching the taller boy more attentively than before. "She does it to everyone, doesn't she?"

Yoarashi dips his head in affirmation. "_Everyone_. She had me type in Endeavor's name on her phone, guess what it is?"

He raises an eyebrow, pushing away the peculiar feeling in his chest. "Hm, let's see… Flamehead? Grandpa? Number Two?"

"Mount Fuji-san," Yoarashi snickers as Hitoshi's eyes widen. "You can't tell him, he'll flip," he adds, as if the perils of doing so aren't obvious. Endeavor already hates everything, and hates Hitoshi more because of his mother, so why would he ever consider adding fuel to that fire?

"Not bad. Does Half-and-Half know?" Hitoshi wonders. He's actually met the younger Todoroki a few times—Toph was grounded after the UA entrance exam, but by the time spring rolled around Endeavor was lax enough with his punishment that Toph could hang out with a few people after school if she was back by 5pm—but he didn't know much about the Todoroki family as a whole.

"Half-and—? _Shouto?_" Yoarashi quirks an eyebrow at the nickname, but says nothing more on the subject. He must be used to Beifong's habit already, but Yoarashi doesn't know the extent of what her encouragement has done to Hitoshi's arsenal of insulting (or teasing) endearments. Mostly because physical appearances are fair game to him.

"Of course he does, Shouto changed his phone contact to the same thing." The airbender's eyes flit away for a moment. "He doesn't really get along with his dad, though. I wouldn't bring it up if I were you."

"Wasn't planning on it," Hitoshi rests his head on his forearm over his desk. "Last thing I want is _more_ trouble with the Flame Hero."

It doesn't register in Hitoshi's head how it sounds until he glances back at Yoarashi, and remembers that _he knows_—he knows about Amon's Vision, and that Umeko Shinsou was killed by Endeavor. (Of course, there's also the fact that he told Endeavor about Toph's time as an illegal quirk fighter and witnessed the Number Two's terrifying and awe-inspiring anger firsthand, but the giant buzz-cut marshmallow sitting behind Hitoshi has no idea about any of that).

As such, there is no outright pity in the look Yoarashi gives him, but a divot between his eyebrows deepens in quiet consideration. Hitoshi still expects condolences or something like it when Yoarashi opens his mouth. Braces for it, with a harsh retort on the tip of his tongue.

"You'll sit with us all at lunch, right?" The bald boy asks brusquely.

Hitoshi blinks, deflating like a popped balloon. "Eh?"

Yoarashi drums his fingers on his desk some more, leaning precariously out of his seat towards him. "_Us_. Toph, Shouto. Me. Maybe more, I dunno. And _you_. Right?" Yoarashi's words are choppy and a little awkward, and it doesn't escape Hitoshi's notice that he won't make eye contact for more than a few seconds.

"You don't _have_ to invite me," He inches back in his seat, pushing down new whorls of frustration in his gut. "I know Beifong's your friend too, but that doesn't mean _we_ have to hang out."

Yoarashi can't even look him in the eye, so they really shouldn't be forcing something like this. And Hitoshi _gets_ _it_. He does. Mom was—_Umeko_ was a monster. Not everyone can forgive as easily as Beifong, especially not someone who lived through it like Inasa. It was nice enough that him and the Snowflake got along decently, but even that took a few weeks before they warmed up to each other. Mostly because Hitoshi accidentally called him _Snowflake_ to his face.

"But—but I _want_ to!" Yoarashi insists after a moment, finally leaping to his feet gracelessly. He has a determined look to his face now, or at least it's supposed to seem determined. It's more like he's glaring in encouragement, if that's possible. "We don't even know each other, so how can I say I _don't_ want to hang out?! We should at least _try_. Right?"

"...Right," Hitoshi agrees, quietly intimidated by the intensity literally hovering over him now. Yoarashi went from zero to sixty way too fast. "I'll, um, stick around for lunch?" He adds clumsily.

"Great!" Yoarashi quips back, dangerously close to shouting. He steps to the side of his desk and suddenly bows violently forward, his scalp nearly brushing the floor. "_It's a pleasure to meet you, Shinsou!_"

"What the _fuck_," Hitoshi splutters as Yoarashi flings himself back into his seat. The whole class is looking at them now, sheesh._ My heart is pounding,_ Hitoshi realizes in frank indignation. _It's too early for this_. Indigo eyes settle on grey ones. "We've already met."

"But now we're doing it properly! As friends!" Yoarashi points out, fire in his eyes. "And call me Inasa, it's shorter!"

Hitoshi rubs a hand over his face. "Ok, just don't—don't give yourself a concussion, it's too early for that." He doesn't offer his given name in return. Maybe that's rude, but whatever.

"I have a hard head!" Baldy assures him, flashing an easy smile. It doesn't strike Hitoshi as entirely honest, but neither is the smile he gives in return. Yoarashi's doing his best, but Hitoshi knows a front when he sees it. They're not buddies just because Inasa says so.

Toph's been pushing the issue for ages, adamant that they could all get along together... Hitoshi isn't so sure, but he'll try. _Because it's Toph._

* * *

Far away from the heroics school—but much closer than one would imagine—two men meet in a brightly-lit cafe. They don't care for pretenses, or any normal cliches for men in their line of business.

If you really think about it, what is there to look at? In this day and age, people come in more shapes and sizes than ever. The ones with frightening looks still hide in the shadows, but that's always been the case. Now, though, they're not the only ones to fear. Sometimes, the most dangerous thing might be found in the most innocuous packaging.

One man flips through a packet of lab results while the other takes notes on a small tablet. Even upon a closer look, they look like economists or medical researchers. A hostess stops by, retrieving an empty mug of coffee and chattering about dessert suggestions.

"I promise you, it's not as easy as it looks," the tablet man comments lightly, tapping away. "Is it really worth the trouble?"

"It is," the older of the two men replies, blue eyes scanning over the documents serenely. His face, though weathered and tan, is handsome and masculine. He's much more pleasant to look at than most others at his age, tall and muscular beneath his ash gray suit. "_They are_ worth the trouble."

Next to him, his partner seems meek and small, though he's of average height for a thirty-something year old, not counting the flexible antennae sprouting from his scalp. "Well, it's set up. Unless any of the pieces fall out of place, you'll have it next month."

"Will they?" The man's cool gaze darts up to meet the other's, and the tension between them swells and then breaks like an ocean wave. "I've waited too long to let this_ fall out of place_."

"It won't fail," the younger man promises, shoulders stiff under the scrutiny of the man. "But I should point out—you were _right_ to wait. This one looks promising. And he's getting weaker."

"They _always_ say that," The man with blue eyes isn't convinced. "Yet he's cheering on a silly little league, like he has all the time in the world," he mutters with disdain.

"We won't let him," the other man insists slowly, reverently. "This time, our vision will prevail, Tarrlok."

* * *

"TOPH!" Inasa zooms past Hitoshi to scoop up the girl in a hug as soon as she reaches the cafeteria. That's what Hitoshi assumes Cueball meant to do, but she deftly avoids his arms and laughs. Hitoshi follows at a leisurely pace, giving a short nod of greeting to Todoroki and the stranger beside him.

"This is Momo—ah, _Yaoyorozu_." Half-n-Half catches himself mid-sentence, but he doesn't look sheepish. He gestures to the tall girl standing slightly behind him. She's pretty, like she belongs in a magazine, and wear her black hair in a shiny, spiky ponytail. "She will be sitting with us today."

By the look on Todoroki's face (and the looks on several classmates' faces), he has no idea what a fucking power move it is to escort two hot hero girls to lunch on the second day of school. While Hitoshi himself is too tired to actually express any surprise, other students around them are not. It's garnering a lot more attention than he would prefer. Hitoshi thinks he hears a blonde kid whisper "Leave some for the rest of us, holy shit," as he passes by, and a few girls swivel around to get a better look at the pretty red-and-white haired boy.

(Yeah, Todoroki is pretty too. It's more fact than opinion at this point.)

"Hi, Yaoyorozu-san," Hitoshi greets the taller girl with more respect than he'd usually give. Something about the way she carries herself screams formality, so he just goes with it. "I'm Shinsou."

"Nice to meet you, Shinsou-san," Yaoyorozu gives a short bow and a kind, reserved smile. Hitoshi releases a breath he didn't know he was holding in. Enough time has passed since the Cato Raid that people have forgotten his name.

"I'm Inasa Yoarashi," the airbender adds enthusiastically, and then he steps back to throw himself into another full-body bow, startling everyone in a five-foot radius. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yaoyorozu!"

"Oh my," Yaoyorozu covers her mouth (and a smile) with her hand. "Please do not injure yourself, Yoarashi-san."

Toph rolls her eyes. "What kind of greeting is _that?_" she asks critically. "You'll bash your head in that way."

"I'm just excited to see you all! Especially you, Toph!" He tries to grab her again, and the earth girl makes an 'x' with her arms, dodging.

"I saw you this morning, dummy, no need for more mushiness now," she insists, hands on her hips. Inasa deflates. Then his eyes target-lock onto Todoroki, and he gets the brunt of the airbender's affection instead. _That_ hug looks borderline painful. Hitoshi hears him mumble something along the lines of "You got really heavy," to Inasa.

Hitoshi actually hasn't seen Toph since the semester started, so this is his first time seeing her in the uniform. She isn't wearing the gray blazer or a waistcoat over her dress shirt, nor does she have the standard red tie, and the shirt's white so you can kind of—_I should stop staring_, he decides, pulling his gaze up. "Uh, where's your tie? Isn't that mandatory?"

Toph, beautiful and poised as ever, scowls nastily and sticks out her tongue. _Lovely_. "I haven't been called out by Aizawa yet. There's no point learning to tie that stupid thing, I'm never wearing one after I graduate." Yaoyorozu gives an exasperated sigh. One of many to come, he's sure.

"The _delinquent_ look, I see," Hitoshi hums in mirth, and her nose scrunches in annoyance as they get in line for food. Taking full advantage of his lanky figure, he stretches out an arm and flicks the pom pom on the side of Toph's headband for the hell of it. "Yaoyorozu-san, you must be in 1-A?" He asks the new girl, pulling away before Toph's fist can connect with his arm.

"Oh, yes," the girl confirms in a soft voice, watching the two of them in open curiosity. It's more than a little odd, like she's observing animals in an enclosure rather than fellow students. "I know Todoroki-kun from the recommended students' exam."

_Ah, she's an elite, that explains it._ Her mannerisms are like Toph's (rare) good habits, magnified tenfold. She was probably homeschooled like Snowflake. "That's cool, you must be strong," Hitoshi says. Yaoyorozu, unduly flattered by the compliment, mumbles a "thank you" as he turns back to Yoarashi and Beifong

"I can teach you how to tie a tie," Inasa offers earnestly to Toph, though he still has an arm hooked over Todoroki's shoulder. "It's not too hard. You can practice with mine!"

"Don't coddle me, Twinkles, it's not happening," Toph brushes off the idea entirely, picking out a lunch order. "How's 1-B? Make any enemies, Snoozles?"

_You know me so well,_ He thinks sardonically. "Depends on if the Copypasta guy counts. He's so smug, but his quirk literally relies on using other people's quirks." Hitoshi glances at Inasa for his opinion.

"Monoma is _everyone's_ enemy," Inasa muses seriously, finally releasing Snowflake. "He's mad 'cause he's not in your class."

"Do a lot of students feel that way?" Todoroki has entered the chat. Finally.

"Mostly just Copypasta," Hitoshi assures the dual-haired student. "He's blond, shorter than you and me, has a big fucking mouth." He doesn't actually say _Watch out for that one_, but Todoroki's eyes seem to flash in understanding. Yaoyorozu gasps quietly at his language, and Hitoshi just offers her a single arched eyebrow in challenge.

"That sounds familiar," Todoroki murmurs, looking down thoughtfully.

"Kendo is cool, though," Inasa continues energetically, as Yaoyorozu—shit, that name does _not_ roll off the tongue—pouted a little and looks away from Hitoshi. _She's too proper_, he thinks, and Inasa exclaims, "I like her, she has _really big hands!_"

"No judgement, I guess everyone has their preferences," Hitoshi quips back, and Toph slaps his arm with a stifled laugh. Again, Momo gives him a _look_. This time Hitoshi intentionally grins impishly her way, and feels rather diabolical when she's clearly scandalized.

"Hm?" The airbender blinks at them, guileless. "No, I mean her hands get big, that's her quirk," he explains further, and now Hitoshi just feels bad for teasing.

"I'm just _kidding_, Air Boy," Hitoshi reveals gently, to appease both Momo and Inasa.

"It's alright, Shinsou," he says in an oddly low voice. "If you're into big hands I won't kinkshame you." Before Hitoshi even registers the clapback Yoarashi blazes onward. "Lizard Guy is probably the coolest guy in class!" Inasa informs them blithely. "He's very _passionate_, I like it!"

Inasa meets his eyes, and there's a new flinty edge to his gaze. _Where the hell did that come from?_

Toph is shaking with laughter, and will be dealt with in time. Momo just shakes her head, refusing to meet his eye. Snowflake, bless his cold heart, definitely heard and definitely doesn't care. "Lizard guy, that's Kamakiri," Hitoshi corrects Inasa reluctantly, dropping the hands thing for now. The lizard guy is about as tall as Yoarashi, and yes, he's passionate, but he's mostly just aggressive. "He's cool, but I wouldn't call him very cool-_headed_."

"There's a guy like that in 1-A too," Todoroki catches the grimace on Hitoshi's face, clearly not buying Inasa's version of events. "He almost bit Toph's head off before class started."

Todoroki scans the room for an empty table, and the four of them trail after him. It strikes Hitoshi that this is the first time he's starting a new school year with friends. He has some doubts about Inasa, but Todoroki is a decent guy and Toph's always stuck around. Momo is a nice surprise too. And compared to a lot of new students at UA, he's… pretty lucky to have a spot here. And he didn't even come to this school to make friends.

They sit around a smaller table and Hitoshi takes a thoughtful sip of water.

"Nah," Toph cuts in with a lazy wave of her hand. "Blasty had a fair claim. I bit his hand during the entrance exam." She takes a shameless bite of food.

"You _bit_ him?" Todoroki repeats in mild surprise, as Hitoshi hacks up the water he snorted. "No wonder he hates you." Momo just shakes her head again, like she's already learned to expect this behavior. Good for her.

"What the heck, Toph!" Inasa laughs. "I didn't see that part!"

"De–lin–quent," Hitoshi says between breaths. Toph swats him hard on the back a few times 'to clear his airways'. A part of him expected it, and another part wonders if he has a problem for getting used to the mild physical abuse. "You realize we were fighting robots, not other students, Beifong."

"He was trying to intimidate me," she scoffs, scooping up noodles. "He scored the most villain points, yet he gets all up in my face for stealing his kills? Pfft. _He's_ the delinquent, not me." She takes a pointed bite of food to end her statement.

"I don't think biting him really helps your case," Todoroki murmurs. "Regardless, I'd like to see how Bakugou fairs in a fight. He's so angry all the time, I don't think it'd be hard to beat him."

But Toph shakes her head, rather solemnly. "He fights smart," she grumbles the words reluctantly, and the honesty rattles Hitoshi. Toph doesn't hand out compliments like that so easily. "And his explosion quirk—that's freaking _versatile_."

"He seems pretty skilled," Yoarashi admits with a frown, poking at his plate before switching gears with almost breathtaking speed. "Oh, but is there a _bird-headed_ boy in your class?! He was wicked cool in the entrance exam, he's got some kind of _shadow monster_ in his belly! Now that's a hot-blooded hero!"

"That must be Tokoyami," Todoroki agrees, rolling with the conversation. "I have no idea how his quirk works."

"I believe he calls it Dark Shadow," Momo offers tentatively. "Though I'm not sure what his physical mutation has to do with that power."

"Tokoyami has a bird head? Like a _bird_-bird head?" Toph demands, uncharacteristically flummoxed. "I thought he just had a weird face, like the six-armed guy. Does he have a _beak?_ He must have teeth to talk properly..."

"It that confuses you, wait till you meet Fukidashi," Hitoshi grins widely at the thought of Toph trying to make sense of the short guy with a speech bubble head. His power was nothing to scoff at, and Hitoshi didn't think he was weird because of his mutation, but he knew Toph was constantly in a crisis trying to match up mutation-quirks with average human physiology. "I think his quirk is pretty _comical_."

"Comical! Ha, you're right!" Inasa repeats gleefully. Toph's eyes are narrowed, and Momo seems to realize there's a joke going over their head, but Hitoshi and Inasa never explain it.

* * *

That afternoon, All Might enters the classroom the way Toph imagines Twinkletoes does every day. "_I am here!_ Coming through the door like a normal teacher!" He exclaims with boundless energy. Maybe Twinkles was onto something when he prattled about hot-blooded heroes. "It's time for your first hero training lesson, taught by yours truly! Today we'll be doing… _Mock Battles!_"

A puff of air swishes Toph's bangs. All Might is striking a pose. Most of the class bursts into excited murmurs. Toph doesn't join in, but she _is_ pretty excited. It's one thing to hear All Might accept her into UA in a hologram, but having him here in person is a whole other story.

"Now, before we get started, a word of—_apology!_" All Might's voice goes off-key, and he sort of hunches inward. "Um. There was sort of a mix-up of files when it came to the first-years? I was not given the details, but not all of your hero costumes have been completed."

"What?!" Someone gasps. "You mean we can't participate?!"

"Which students? Was my costume request too confusing—?"

"Settle down, settle down!" All Might quickly cuts through with his booming voice, spirit returning full-force to smack them in the face. "It was a simple clerical error! Everyone may still participate!" He pulls out a folded sheet. "The students affected are Eijirou Kirishima—"

"Aw MAN!" Kirishima howls.

"—Tsuyu Asui, and Toph Beifong!"

Toph's mouth falls open. _What the hell, UA?_

"Please, the school offers their deepest apologies for this mishap!" All Might gives a quick and formal bow as he speaks, then springs back up. "You will have to make do with your gym uniform for now, but your costumes will be completed by next week! Everyone else, please find your numbered suitcases in the back of the classroom!"

The rest of the class scrambles for the back of the room while Toph picks her way towards the exit sourly. Kirishima and Asui follow her. "Well this sucks," Toph states the obvious, picking at the dirt under her nails.

"It is disappointing, kero," the toad (frog?) girl agrees as they shuffle towards the locker room. Her hands and feet are larger than average. I wonder if Shinsou would like her, Toph jokes to herself. "I hope it doesn't put us at a disadvantage for today's lesson."

"It's okay!" Kirishima says firmly. "The costume isn't what makes the hero! I'm worried my gym uniform's going to be _shredded_, though." He makes a fist with one hand, and his figure shifts in Toph's 'sight'. It's like his fist becomes denser, and the outline of his hand becomes clearly defined as though sculpted from a hard stone. Toph thinks, bizarrely, that if she reached out she could probably _earthbend_ him. "My quirk is Hardening," he explains, oblivious to the crisis of ethics Toph is going through, "It makes my skin sharp enough to tear my clothes!"

"Very, ah, _spiky_," Asui compliments him.

She can practically hear him beaming. "Thank you!"

"That's cool," Toph says, trying not to show how weirded out she feels. "I can earthbend." She tilts her head towards Tsuyu Asui. "You're a frog, right Asui?"

"Yes, kero, to put it bluntly," Asui confirms, though she doesn't sound offended at this. "I have several frog-like abilities. And please, call me Tsuyu."

"Sure," Toph nods, chewing her lip thoughtfully before adding, "You guys can call me Toph, if you want."

"Nice to meet ya, Toph," Kirishima exclaims. "Oh, um, I dunno if this is a weird question or not, but you and Todoroki," he begins haltingly, "Are you guys dating or something?"

Toph raises an eyebrow, "That's kind of a personal thing to ask someone right off the bat, Spiky," she frowns, a little uncomfortable with the sudden line of questioning. "He's one of my best friends."

"Ah," Kirishima sounds sheepish now, "Sorry. I was curious, he's really protective of you." Which just raises more questions for Toph. She can't recall any instance of Shouto being particularly protective at all. "It just stood out to me, I don't think anyone else came to UA with such a close friend in the same class."

"I was wondering about that too, actually," Tsuyu admits frankly. "Though I assumed you were siblings at first. Either way, you are clearly familiar with one another."

She presses her lips together and nods. "I've known him for a long time. We've even trained together, so it isn't surprising we got into the same class." Toph leaves out the technicality of being adopted by the Todorokis. Endeavor's always kept his family life private, and Toph sees no reason to change that for people she just met.

(It's a little harder to explain to Iida, who knows of her family and but not _why_ they're in China now. He mentioned it yesterday, but Toph shot down his questions, if only to put off his suffocating version of pity for a while longer.)

"Ohh, I guess I didn't expect that. You and Todoroki are like polar opposites, I'm surprised you get along so well," Kirishima points out. Toph can't help the small smile on her face, because he clearly hasn't met Twinkletoes yet. "Well, good luck you two!" He breaks off from them to change in the boys' locker room and Toph follows Tsuyu to their own changing area.

"It's nice that you already have a friend in class," the frog girl comments thoughtfully. "I think you know Iida-chan too?"

Toph finds her locker and pulls out her clothes as the rest of the girls trickle in after them. "Sort of," she admits to Tsuyu, "We weren't friends." _I was kind of a dick to him, actually._

"Well, it seems like a better relationship than Bakugou- and Midoriya-chan," the girl replies. It's hard to tell if she's being sarcastic or if the deadpan tone is just the way she talks, but Toph is beginning to think it's the latter. "I hope they aren't slotted to fight each other today, it might get out of hand."

Toph remembers how Aizawa had to restrain Sweaty Hands with his capture weapon to prevent him from tackling the shorter boy yesterday, and can't help but agree.

"I hope Bakugou doesn't fight Beifong today either!" Infinity Girl pipes up, wiggling awkwardly in place to fit into her uniform. Toph hopes her own costume doesn't end up so tight. If it feels anything like a bathing suit, she'd rather keep fighting in her gym clothes. "You two kind of bring out the worst in each other, no offense."

"None taken," Toph laughs.

"Yeah, it looks like Bakugou _really_ doesn't like you!" Another girl chimes in. Ashido, with the horns. "Or, maybe he really _really_ likes you?" She adds suggestively. Toph fumbles through putting on her shirt, not liking where this is going. First Kirishima, now Ashido. "What do you think of him? I like a boy with _passion_, ya know?"

"E-Everyone in the hero course is _passionate_," Toph reasons curtly. "And I think Bakugou just wants to blow me up."

"Or maybe he wants _you_ to _blow_—mhf!" The horned girl whines under someone else's gloved hand. Infinity Girl gasps at the half-spoken innuendo, accidentally smacking herself with a bra strap.

"Don't say _that_," the gloved girl admonishes Ashido, tugging at her long earlobe nervously. "Th-that's way out of line. Don't we have more important things to think about, like our _training?_" She's clearly no more comfortable with this kind of talk than Toph is. Nice to know she's not alone.

Toph shakes her head. "Yeah. Why do you have time to think of _that_ right before a battle?"

"Kyouka-san is right. This is no time to be gossiping," Sugar Queen adds firmly, nervously fiddling with the links on her belt.

"Aw, you guys are no fun! I'm just _teasing_," Ashido pouts. "Plus, you haven't seen the way he _looks_ at you, Beifong."

Her cheeks feel too hot. Infinity Girl rescues Toph with a burst of laughter. "You mean like he wants to _roast her alive?_ Ashido, you have strange taste!"

Hagakure comes to Ashido's defense. "He's kinda_ cute!_ There's a lot of cute guys—"

"And _this_ is where I stop listening," Toph interrupts with a long-suffering sigh. "If you have any more crackpot theories, leave me out of them." She finishes changing and makes her way to the training zone slowly.

Bakugou, seriously? The guy that growls every sentence and stomps like a toddler? _Come on._

Toph's not such a wuss she can't take some teasing—Shinsou teases her all the time, and it's _fun_. But she's not friends with any of these girls yet, except maybe Sugar Queen, so she's not really open to it. Besides, right now Toph needs to get her head in the game. She needs to be vigilant if she wants a chance to win her battle. There's _definitely_ a few students with quirks that could counter her, like Infinity Girl…

By the time the whole class has collected around All Might again, the conversation in the locker room is far from Toph's mind. Of course, that's when Ashido finds her again.

"Sorry, Beifong," Ashido whispers, inching to her side. Toph grimaces. "I didn't mean to embarrass you, Yaoyorozu thinks I should apologize."

"I'm not _embarrassed_. Drop it." Unfortunately for Toph, Shouto is standing nearby and clearly listening to them.

"...Hey. What are you talking about." He deadpans. There's curiosity in his tone, but also an overwhelming dose of _hostility_. Maybe this is why Kirishima got the idea he was overprotective.

The horned girl stifles a yelp, slapping a hand over her face. "Ah! _T-Todoroki!_ Just, um… girl talk?" She stutters, abruptly becoming shy. Her heart is pounding, interestingly enough.

Toph shakes her head, more amused at Ashido than embarrassed at this point. "Nothing to worry about." She waves Ashido away. If the girls bring it up again in the locker room, she'll put her foot down and nix the girl talk once and for all.

_Well,_ Toph amends, _Maybe not all the talk. But definitely all the talk before serious training or testing._

Shouto nudges her curiously as Ashido leaves. "Toph, what was that—?"

"All Might's here," Toph pointedly turns to All Might as he begins to address the class, dodging Shouto's suspicion for now.

"I'll be drawing random lots to determine our 2-person villain and hero teams," the hero declares cheerfully. Unlike the entrance exam, this test is a close-quarters fight, with the heroes trying to subdue the villains or capture a nuclear weapon under a time limit. All Might pulls out names with great flourish. "Here's the break down: Hero Team Uraraka & Koda versus Villain Team Aoyama & Ashido! Todoroki & Shoji versus Ojiro & Hagakure…"

Toph waits for her name to be called.

And waits.

_And waits._

Oh great, she's going to fight Bakugou, isn't she? Her head's going to be ringing all _day_ from those damn explosions.

All Might finishes the list, oblivious, "...Lastly, _Hero Team Bakugou & Beifong _versus_ Villain Team Midoriya & Iida!_"

"_Shit_," Toph curses, and like an echo, Bakugou swears from across the crowd. What was that Infinity Girl said, about bringing out the worst in each other?

"All Might, are you sure that's a fair fight?" Toph speaks up, barely keeping herself from whining.

"Ooh, you're right!" Hagakure calls out in agreement. "Bakugou and Beifong were the top scorers in the entrance exam, ne? That's a pretty overpowered team."

"Poor Midoriya," a very short boy mutters, shaking his head. Honestly, Toph agrees. They're lucky her suit hasn't come in yet.

"Nonsense!" All Might laughs cheerfully. "Being the top scorers does not mean Young Midoriya and Iida are doomed! I believe this trial will test you all quite differently than the entrance exam—which brings me to another point! As this is an indoor exercise, this is also an exercise in _restraint_. Neither hero nor villain wants to destroy the playing field when there's an active bomb in the mix…"

He goes on, restating the obvious objectives for the exercise, and Toph is still Bakugou's partner. She's going to have to _converse_ with _him_.

Shouto chuckles, and without giving him any warning Toph socks him in the arm. "_Ow_, I didn't say anything!" He protests, rather superficially.

"Go die in a ditch," Toph snaps at Shouto hotly, tracking Bakugou with her quirk as he stomps towards her. The other students shuffle around too, finding their partners and avoiding their opponents.

"That's a little extreme, even for you," Shouto murmurs, catching onto her nerves much quicker than Toph would like. The six-armed student calls out to Shouto, his partner. "Are you okay working with Swea—_Bakugou?_"

_Maybe he really really likes you._ Toph bristles, crossing her arms. "I don't know, I don't even know him," she blurts out, both to answer Shouto and Ashido's voice in her head. "But I'm not going to lose, that's for sure," she adds a scowl as Bakugou approaches and Shouto leaves her side with a murmur of good luck.

"Listen up, _Earth Girl_," Bakugou hisses, right up in her face again, "Stay the _fuck_ out of my way while I go after _Deku_."

This is much worse than fighting Bakugou.

Toph's nostrils flare in annoyance, but she tamps it down alongside the rest of her stupid swirling emotions."You're so _predictable_, Blasty," she scoffs lowly, turning away from him. It's painfully obvious that he wants to go after Midoriya. "So the plan is for me to take them both out after you get captured? _Great idea_," she throws him a thumbs up.

"Shut it, dumbass," he bats her hand away, "I can take that deku any day," Bakugou insists, noisily moving around to face her again. He keeps his voice down so they're not overheard, though he's no less aggressive. Despite Ashido's suggestion, Toph doesn't think Bakugou has the slightest idea he's doing anything besides intimidate her (unsuccessfully, of course).

"How are you so sure? You didn't even know Midoriya had a _quirk_ until the apprehension test," Toph still finds herself tilting her face away again, trying to avoid his breath over her cheeks. Yesterday it was a lot easier to ignore how close he was because she was actively yelling back.

"Doesn't matter, he's still a weakling—_Oi!_ Stop turning away from me," He snaps, tugging her shoulder. "What are you _doing?_"

Toph pulls away. Now is _not_ the time to be reminded that Blasty's singular positive trait is that he smells like caramel. "You don't have to yell in my face, I hear you just fine," she deflects hastily.

"I'm not _yelling!_" He yells.

She's no Shinsou, but she's sure her deadpan look gets delivered with equal effectiveness.

Bakugou pinches the bridge of his nose. "_You_ take Glasses," he says evenly. "If you can't beat him, I will. But I'm _not_ securing the nuke before taking them down, that's just a _cop-out_," Bakugou declares, turning to stomp away—to what? Waste the rest of their planning time? _That jerk._

The thing is, it's _exactly_ what Toph wants to do too. Grabbing the nuke without any enemy to oppose you counted as securing it, and Toph wasn't crazy about that option. She _wants_ to fight Iida and Midoriya, and if Bakugou knew more about Midoriya's fighting style, then by all means he could take that target.

But like _hell_ is Toph gonna let Bakugou_ walk all over her._ This is her battle too.

"_Or_ I can find the nuke before we even step into the building, and end the fight before you can say _'Deku!_'" Toph counters before he can flee. She does her damndest not to smirk as Bakugou pauses mid-step. "You don't even know how my quirk works, do you?"

He's silent for a long moment, practically shaking from pent up anger. _Sweet Kami,_ it's like talking to a brick wall. But she has to do it—she's certain that Midoriya and Iida are strategizing too. All Might never vocalized it, but part of the difficulty of having so much time to plan is being expected to perform better than the groups before them. The first battle has already started, and Toph is sure they're all going to adjust their plans based on the outcome. Toph taps her foot on the ground, both annoyed and getting a feel for their opponents. Iida's legs stand out among the normal-boned-people, engine legs humming lowly, and Midoriya is a mess of mumbling theories beside him.

"You're an earthbender," Bakugou finally grits out, coming to the same conclusion that they need some semblance of a plan. "You're strong enough to punch through metal. I've seen you fight already, what _else_ is there to fucking know?"

It's a good thing they're the last group to be tested. They would have turned on each other mid-battle if they went in like this.

"I can sense spatial locations through the ground, right down to the smallest objects like that spider on the wall," Toph points with dead accuracy to said arachnid, inching towards the doorframe of the observation room. "I'll know where the nuke, Midoriya and Iida are as soon as we start."

"_Tch_," Bakugou takes a half-step away from her, his costume rattling noisily.

She takes a breath. "What's with the gauntlets?" Toph nods to the huge, hollow contraptions over his forearms, trying her luck to figure out his stupid explosive quirk now that he's shut up for a second.

"They'll collect the sweat from my palms—_urgh_," Ah, he's clearly spotted the confused and disgusted look on Toph's face at this point, "My hands secrete _nitroglycerin!_" Bakugou grouches, prickly as ever, clenching and unclenching said hands. "And I can ignite it on command. But the more sweat I collect—"

"The bigger the explosion," Toph's eyes widen. He clicks his tongue at being cut off again. She remembers him leaping from robot to robot in the exam. "Alright _Triggerhands,_ can you fly with your quirk?"

Bakugou switches gears faster than a professional driver, grabbing the collar of her jacket and jerking her forward. "I've had _enough of this!_ Don't you _dare_ go for the fucking nuke. And Deku is _mine_, so don't take my target—"

"I'm not gonna—_argh!_" She can't get any traction over the gauntlets, so Toph slaps a palm over his face and pushes back. "Get—_off_—me!"

"Don't _touch_ me!" Bakugou shouts under her hand. He pushes one hand off but Toph just uses her other one, and really, all he has to do is let go of her shirt but of course he doesn't. She can feel his scowl scrunch up over his nose and the furious curl of his mouth under her fingers, which is _not information she ever needed_—

"You started it, stop grabbing me—_AH!_" Toph tugs her hand away, now throbbing in pain, and Bakugou sets off a blast on her uniform, backing up several steps. She scrambles back too, her neck stinging and her shirt singed.

_He bit my hand_, Toph thinks, not even registering the explosion. "What's your problem?!" Toph squawks, shaking out her hand._ He really went for it, jeez._

"W-What's YOUR problem?!" He hollers, equally confused but twice as mad.

"Young Bakugou! Young Beifong!" All Might calls from the surveillance screens. "_Is there a problem here?_"

"_No!_" They shout back in unison, startling Toph. She almost snaps at Bakugou, but she's kinda afraid he had the same idea. Instead they stand in stony, uncomfortable silence five feet away from each other.

She swipes away the ashes on her jacket, but there isn't any serious damage. Her neck feels irritated, not burnt. "Do that again and I'll _put you down_," she promises darkly.

His hands crackle with small explosions and he scoffs. "Oh? You really think you _can?_" Toph just turns away, done with the conversation.

"Oh my god," she hears Midoriya's wavering voice from across the room. "There's _two_ of them."

* * *

All things considered, Shouto thinks Toph and Bakugou might _not_ actually tear each other apart when their turn finally comes. He watches the surveillance tapes serenely from the bench, slowly warming himself up with bursts of fire on every other exhale. He definitely went overboard with the ice, but it was a practical choice against a barefoot invisible girl and the tail guy to freeze the entire building in one go. The tail guy seemed rather peevish over it, but it was worth the flash of surprise on Bakugou's face to find out Toph's not the only competition he has.

According to the cameras, Midoriya's plan seemed to rely on getting Bakugou to chase him into a few simple traps—if the capture tape connect all the way around Bakugou it counted as a capture—but there wasn't much in the set up to counter Toph. At least, that's what Shouto thought until Iida begins smashing windows, scattering broken glass on every level.

Toph's lips moved in a silent curse on the screen as she shoves her trainers back on. She could still earthbend and sense her surroundings, but it was considerably muffled with shoes on. Her hero costume was supposed to include footwear that would work with her seismic sense.

"They're taking advantage of Beifong's lack of a hero costume," Momo comments astutely amongst the students. The timer starts and their mock battle begins. "A bit unorthodox, but I suppose they need every advantage they can get against those two."

"We're supposed to avoid damaging the building, but they _are_ the villains, I guess," Shoji muses.

"I'm surprised they noticed the shoes thing!" Kirishima notes, scratching at the new bandages over his shoulder. "Midoriya's pretty observant, huh? I didn't catch it till now, but Beifong took off her shoes a lot for Aizawa's test."

The hero team bark silent orders at each other, and Bakugou charges in from the ground level. Toph hesitates at the entrance, and then steps back.

"Ooh, Beifong's finally backing down?" Sero muses in surprise. "It makes sense, Bakugou's probably been threatening the poor girl all day—"

"She's scaling the building now, kero," the frog girl, Asui, cuts him off. Her face is rather stiff in terms of showing expression, but it looks like she's giving Sero the stink eye. "She has very good form, I bet she rock climbs."

Shouto scans the screens. Lo and behold, Toph digs her fingers into the brick facade, clambering up as easily as Bakugou climbs up the stairwell. With Toph creeping through a window on the fourth floor and Bakugou bursting onto the second level, they each encounter an opponent.

Bakugou, as expected, leaps into action, firing off a surprise explosion at Midoriya. Their battle starts, but Toph lingers on the empty level in silence.

"What the heck is she doing?" Kaminari cackles. "Doesn't she know she's on the wrong floor?"

"Is Iida _monologuing_ to himself?" Asui wonders.

"Indeed, Young Iida has chosen to fully embrace the role as a villain," All Might confirms, fighting a grin.

"She should just go after him," Tail guy murmurs, crossing his arms. "She's powerful, there's no need to waste time."

"It's not a waste of time," Shouto disagrees, glancing at the other students that turn to look at him. He supposes he hasn't said much during any of the previous matches, so they must be surprised. Shouto settles his gaze back on the screens. "She's waiting."

Just as he says this, Toph makes a punching motion towards the ceiling, and the floor beneath Iida _crumbles_.

* * *

Toph is calm as still water as Iida gesticulates wildly. The nuke is behind him, a huge papier-mâché project tucked in the corner of the fifth floor. "And YOU, dastardly heroine! Take another step and you'll regret being born!" He was fast enough to leap out of the rubble before falling through the ceiling, but then he had to scramble away again as Toph launched herself through the ground to reach his floor.

A vein pulses in her forehead. Over their comms system, Bakugou yells something incoherent about Engine Legs. The building is isolated enough that Toph can make out Midoriya's voice, both through Bakugou's communicator and echoing up the stairwell—_"Keep her busy, Iida-kun! I'll be there soon!"_

_"LIKE HELL YOU WILL,"_ Is Bakugou's furious response. _"GET BACK HERE YOU NERD!"_

Toph rolls her shoulders, sliding her legs apart slightly. Now that he's got a clear view of her, and it'd be too easy for Iida to react to her earthbending if she made the first move. Letting him run is a risk in itself, but she needs to learn how he moves if she'd going to counter him. Or if she even can. Toph had been hoping to have an element of surprise. With her shoes on she can't react as quickly as she'd like.

"Are you just gonna sit there like a pansy or come at me, _Engine Legs?_" Toph drawls, like she was born to taunt this speedster.

"I—Only because you asked!" Iida gives a war cry and bursts towards her with frightening speed. Toph flings the tiled floor up into a shaky wall, deflecting his run before he can reach her.

He skids to a stop halfway across the room—closer, not enough room to gain speed—and sprints again, this time dodging to the right and twisting himself into a high kick.

Toph ducks, feeling the wind whip above her hair sharply—and drags a hand through the ground, pelting Iida with rubble until he stumbles back. He's too fast to completely deflect, or she'd be able to end this a lot quicker, and letting him get close is dangerous. He's physically much stronger than her, and his dumb costume is a suit of poly-something-plastic, not a usable carbon fiber. She gets in a punch or two, but it probably hurts her fists more than it injures him.

He dives back in before Toph can move, swiping at her arm. She deflects it poorly, automatically stepping back to give herself more room to maneuver, but she realizes her mistake just as Iida sees his opening. "_Recipro-Kick!_" he hisses, and even if he hadn't announced it Toph wouldn't have time to dodge the engine-fueled kick aimed at her head.

She barely raises her forearm in time to block, but as his leg connects she feels burst of pain spike through her limb. Toph bites her tongue to stop a yell, and stumbles backwards and onto her knees. Iida lands on his feet, unhurt. Her left arm hurts like hell and her heart is pounding, but her head is clearer than ever.

Thinking quickly, Toph slams her free hand onto the ground before Iida can get to her, kicking up a cloud of dust and rubble that throws him back. The tiles are shredded—_so much for not damaging the building_—leaving the terrain too uneven for another sprint. Iida staggers, tripping over debris to avoid falling through one of the holes in the floor. Even if he hadn't, spotting him is easy as pie with the clunky costume.

Iida realizes his disadvantage as swiftly as Toph takes her chance. "_Midoriya!_ I don't think I can—!"

Toph rises to her feet and stomps on the ground, and the floor rears up to swallow Iida. He lets out a yelp as Toph pulls on the concrete, cementing him halfway through the floor. Iida's engines are depleted after that kick, so he isn't quick enough to avoid her this time.

_"Young Iida, can you move?"_ All Might's voice echoes through all of their comms.

"I-I cannot!" Iida stammers.

_"YOUNG IIDA HAS BEEN CAPTURED,"_ the hero announces.

Toph lets the dust settle slowly, alongside her wildly beating heart. Midoriya is on the move. "He's already at the stairwell, Blasty, quit lounging around," Toph announces to her raging partner. The nuclear missile is tucked just to the right of the stairs, and Toph works her way over to the ticking bomb, past Iida.

_"I'm ON HIM—!"_

_"YOUNG BAKUGOU! IF YOU FIRE THAT BLAST YOUR TEAM WILL BE DISQUALIFIED!" _All Might shouts.

"WHAT?" Toph shrieks, freezing in place as she presses on the communicator to yell. "You _better_ not disqualify us, dumbass!" She hasn't been paying much attention to what's he's doing on the second floor, but clearly Bakugou can't be trusted to do his fucking job.

_"He won't die if he dodges—!"_ The words are drowned out by a great rumbling, then—

The floor blasts upward, catching Toph and the fake bomb in an instant. There's no heat, just a shockwave of power that throws her into the air—the rubble goes flying, and a heavy piece connects with her ribs painfully—

Everything goes _blank_.

There's a faint ringing in her ears.

Toph lifts herself to her feet, surprised it's only her ribs and her arm that are injured. Still, it _really_ freaking hurts. "What the _hell_," she moans.

_"H-HERO TEAM WINS,"_ All Might announces shakily. Toph winces at the volume. Maybe she _did_ get her head knocked around a little. _"PLEASE REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE, I'LL BRING THE MED BOTS!"_

She doesn't try to use her quirk to feel out the rest of the building, but she's still on the fifth floor. "Hey Engine Legs? You dead?" Toph turns towards the crumbling sound of concrete to her right.

"I am mostly fine!" Iida announces, squirming in place. Apparently the concrete held, thank god. "C-can you get me out?"

Toph nods, and then a wave of nausea crashes over her. "Ah, no," she confesses slowly, "That requires some skill and... I think if I try that right now I'll crush you," she groans. "Or drop you."

Iida squawks. "O-okay then I'll wait for All Might! Don't worry yourself!" Toph flops to the ground next to him, panting. "I believe Midoriya attempted to stop you from reaching the bomb. It seems to be destroyed now, though."

"That was Midoriya?" Toph gapes. But it makes sense. If it had been Bakugou's quirk, there would have been heat involved, and also, Toph would be _strangling him right now for attacking her_. Still. It was the villain team that destroyed their own bomb, and so didn't feel much like a win for her no matter what All Might said. "Is your comm working? Is he okay?"

Iida shakes his head, but it's Bakugou that responds through her own communicator. _"The nerd's passed out. Wrecked his arm."_

Toph rolls her eyes. "Midoriya's unconscious, his arm is injured," she informs Iida, scrubbing her uninjured hand through her dusty hair. Her headband is in place, but her bun's become some sort of droopy rat's nest. "Engine Legs and I are on the fifth floor," she adds for Bakugou, but he gives no response. She figures he probably took the comm out by now, and she does the same.

"Is your arm broken?" Iida asks her, horror creeping into his tone. Toph hums in confirmation. It might only be a fracture, but either way it hurts. "_Beifong-san_, I am so—"

"I'm sure you are, but Recovery Girl can fix it," she assures him tightly, unhappy to be reminded of it. She takes slow, sharp breaths to distract herself from the pain in her arm, but the right side of her ribcage aches terribly. She pats her side carefully, but feels nothing out of place.

"Beifong-san…" Iida starts again, yanking his helmet off. It clatters across the floor loudly. "I… Maybe now isn't the time to ask, but I doubt you'll give me the chance later…"

Well. He's not wrong. She runs her tongue over her teeth, feeling dust and bitterness in her mouth. She turns away to hock a loogie and then faces Iida. "Ask, then."

"That is _disgusting_," Iida says instead, shocked.

"Thanks. Is that all?" Toph smirks and makes as though to leave, startling him.

"N-no! Beifong-san. _Please_." Toph sits back down. Not like she really wanted to move around anyway in her state. Iida sighs. "The Beifong family moved back to China shortly after you stopped attending school. No one was able to tell me why, but I assumed you had left with them. What… what _happened?_"

"My birth parents sought legal sanctuary in Gaoling," Toph answers slowly, stretching out her legs. They feel kind of like jello, littered with scratches and bruises. "I moved in with a foster family and stayed in Japan. I was adopted last year."

Iida only makes a small noise of surprise, like he's trying to hold it in. "I… did not know you were separated from them." He avoids asking for detail. "I am sorry."

"No big deal," Toph brushes dirt from her pant legs idly. "It was years ago. I like where I live now."

"That is good to hear. But I still wonder… you knew I came from a hero family. Why didn't you ever mention you wanted to become a hero?" His voice wavers. "Maybe this makes me seem self-centered, but you so clearly have been training for this school for years. Perhaps even from before we first met. I find it odd you would never share this ambition with anyone, not even _me_."

He sounds… hurt. It throws Toph for a loop. Did it really affect Iida that much when she refused to be his friend?

"I couldn't," Toph blurts out without thinking. Iida pauses. She scrubs a hand over her face again, exhaustion rolling over her entire frame. So much for avoiding the Beifong topic. "You think my villain parents were happy with me wanting to be a _hero?_"

The boy makes a strangled sound of surprise. "_V-villains?_ You didn't say _that!_"

"Well why would I? Kinda sounds bad, Engine Legs."

"But—Beifong-san, how—? What did they—?" Iida clutches at his hair. "My word! I must sound so insensitive!"

"Only a little," Toph replies dryly. "You can make it up to me by never mentioning the Beifongs again."

"O-of course! It is your business and yours alone, Beifong—" He releases his hair abruptly. "Should I _not_ call you Beifong? But it is your name according to our class list and I know we are not close, however if it causes you any undue distress I would rather know now then later!"

"No," Toph answers, amused. "No, it doesn't bother me. But you can call me Toph. I've never been one for formalities, _Legs_," she tacks on the nickname just to see what he'll do.

Iida gives a short, abrupt laugh. "_Legs_. You're just as unruly as I remember," he comments, but instead of coming off as annoyed, he almost sounds fond. "I appreciate you telling me, Toph. You didn't have to."

"Don't kid yourself," she rolls her eyes. There's a clunking noise from below them, probably the med bots finally scanning the building. "You were going to hound me over this until I threw you a bone."

"Well, I didn't _know_," Iida sounds sheepish now. "Again, I'm sorry."

Toph waves a hand. "Good talk," she dismisses the conversation lazily. The med bots buzz closer, hovering up the staircase. There are heavy footsteps behind them. "Finally, All Might. Can you dig up Iida?"

"Of course Young Beifong!" The hero rushes forward with dizzying speed. "Please rest now, young lady! I am here!"

"So cheesy," Toph blurts out, and then winces at how rude that was. "Whoops."

"Toph!" Iida admonishes her instantly. All Might just laughs some more.

* * *

In the observation room, Katsuki watches stonily as All Might escorts Earth Girl and Engine Legs out of the ruined building. Ignoring the muttered conversations around him, he yanks the still-active communicator out of his ear and walks away.

Katsuki doesn't have the energy to dwell on what he overheard. So what if Earth Girl has some shitty villains for parents? He has a nerd with a sketchy quirk to interrogate.

* * *

**A/N: ****Next chapter will be the first chapter to completely exclude Toph! Haven't you been wondering what Touya's been up to? It's time for a flashback!**

**If you wanna talk about my story, come yell at me online! I'm called grilledsquids on ye ol' tumblr**


	18. Book 3: Avalanche - Koh the Face Stealer

_A/N: __This chapter switches between POVs, but it shouldn't be too hard to follow... no, that's a lie, this chapter's confusing as fuck._

* * *

_FOUR YEARS AGO_

_"__Worry about yourself, Toph."_ He mutters, opening the fence up and sliding behind it. He melts down the door frame until it's fused together, careful to not let the heated metal touch his skin. "You already tried helping me." _It's not your fault I'm like this_. "If we do meet again, I won't be this nice."

"...Fine." Something in his tone seems to hit the mark, because the girl relents, taking another step back and dropping the emotion from her face. "I'm sorry, Touya," she says at last. She takes another step, and then walks away.

He waits an extra few minutes after her figure is long gone. Rage pools in his gut, dark and viscous as an oil spill. His stomach sloshes as though it's truly there, coating his insides with poison and priming him for detonation. The light dims as clouds overtake the sky, and the air cools. There were only a few people skulking around this neighborhood to begin with, but as the sun sets they scatter further. It won't be long before night sets in and the real shitbags come crawling out of their caves. He breathes in the chilled air, pleasantly cooling his lungs. Then his hand curls into a tight fist and he throws a hard, flaming punch at the brick wall. The stone crumbles and burns nicely, and his knuckles light up in pain, but it's not as satisfying as he'd hope. With a shout of rage he punches the wall again. This is all so _fucked up._

What reason did that brat have for stirring up shit? Why plunge back into muck when you've _just_ gotten yourself squeaky clean?

He stops after a third punch but there's still liquid fire, molten and furious, in his veins.

Steam escapes his lips. The blood on his knuckles congeals in dark, brittle chunks. With a quirk as explosive as his own, even the slightest hint of anger becomes a double-edged sword. He has half a mind to leave it as is, no stranger to scabs and bruised skin, but his quirk… the burns are getting worse, and he's more vulnerable to a shitty infection without a reliable medic to lean on. It's not because of the look on her face when she realized he was in pain. He ducks into a fast food joint and locks himself in the brightly-lit restroom.

The blood rinses away easily enough, trickling down the porcelain bowl of the sink in pinkish streams. He uses the crappy soap pump and scrubs at his palms, beneath his nails, over the grooves between fingers until his skin is flushed and sweet-smelling. Further up his wrists, his skin is tender, and even further, his forearms are stiff and scarred. He isn't certain, but his theory is that the farther from his fingertips, the less heat-resistant his skin is. There's still a healing blister near his elbow, haphazardly covered with gauze and antibiotic cream. His neck is permanently irritated from his more extreme uses of fire.

Thanks to the brat, he knows how to be careful with his quirk now. But sometimes he just _doesn't care._

Sometimes, the way his skin twists and burns under his own will, when he's too angry for control… it's freeing. The same way his fourth at-home ear piercing stung like a bitch and got infected, but he didn't regret doing it, because he chose it. He _chose_ it, and now it's a part of him.

Snorting to himself, he scrubs his damp hands over his face._ I sound like a masochist_. He runs his fingers through his hair, thick and unruly. The only thing he's really maintained is his hair, to the point where the nose-wrinkling scent of ammonia has become a comfort. It's a relief every time he meets someone new and they flinch at his looks. Either that or they don't bat an eye.

Maybe that's what bothers him so much. _The brat's blind_. She never knew what he looked like to begin with. She doesn't see the full picture of what he is, she doesn't know what _Dabi_ is.

He peeks through his hands, seeking out turquoise eyes in the mirror. Jet black hair. Waxy skin. Bruises under his eyes. The skin along his neck is deep red and irritated, almost up to his jawline now. A silver nose piercing on one side, a scattering of small cartilage pieces in each ear. He's filled out his frame a bit, though his face remains angular and thin. He looks frightening, for sure, but it's better than what he used to look like.

And yet, the look in his eyes—turquoise and bright—it always gives him away. More and more people see Dabi, but he still sees _Touya_ in his reflection.

He often wonders when, if ever, the day will come that Dabi is his true face. Right now it feels like a mask that, if one knew what to look for, could recognize Touya underneath it.

_How was it that Toph recognized me? My voice?_ She caught him so easily, figured out how he felt so quickly—she's good at reading people, ironically, but he's also just… _transparent_, isn't he? It's more than his appearance he needs to change.

He dries his hands and gets on with his errands.

There's a few stops he's supposed to make today, and he follows through with the schedule more churlish than usual. He strong-arms a dealer into paying his dues; returns a flash drive of collateral to a perpetually-sweating marketing agent; collects things, distributes other things, the works. He's still angry throughout the day, but the feeling is formless and confusing. He makes no effort to grasp it fully or explore why it remains, but goes about his duties on disgruntled autopilot. No one comments on his attitude. They're already familiar with his quirk if not the hard glint of annoyance in his eye. If he talks a little less than usual, no one really notices.

The broker, however, is another story. Giran takes a slow pull from his cigarette as he returns to the dumpster of an office building where they meet, eyes flashing with calculating interest. His hair is slicked to the side as usual, the same dull gray as the ash from his smoke, but nothing about Giran really gives away his age. All he knows is that he has ties to all the local unsavories, and enough respect that he's never seemed worried about being double-crossed.

And, apparently, he can read Dabi like a book too.

"You're quiet. What's got you so out of sorts, Dabi?" The broker flips through bills to distribute his payment.

He doesn't really think about it until he sees the bills in Giran's hands, and the anger is suddenly a crystalline idea.

He waits until the stack of bills are fully counted out, and holds up a hand before Giran can pass it to him. "Tell me about Amon's Vision," He says. "What's left of them after the Cato Raid?"

Giran flashes an unpleasant grin, his gold incisor gleaming. He plucks out a few of the bills indulgently, payment for information he holds. "That's not an easy question."

His resolve solidifies, rooting him like an ancient tree. "And that's not an answer worth that cash. I'm waiting."

_PRESENT DAY_

Inasa bounds into the house with his usual grace(less) exuberance, kicking off his shoes and sweeping Shouto in a bear hug. At this point, it's just better to let these things (specifically, Inasa) happen. Toph still fights tooth and nail about hugs and other overly 'mushy' affection, but Shouto doesn't know why. Inasa Yoarashi gives very good hugs, and he's a difficult guy to argue with.

"Hiya Shouto! Your house is so clean!" He comments candidly.

"Yes," Shouto agrees smoothly, straightening out his shirt after Inasa releases him. "That's because Toph and Natsuo aren't here."

It wasn't a joke, but the taller boy bellows with laughter. He trails a step behind Shouto, slapping his shoulder. "Y'got a point there! Last time I hugged Toph, I kicked up a cloud of dust!" Shouto nods, fully aware of the usual state of Toph's room and the training yard. "Toph's visiting Kouta this weekend, right? How 'bout Natsuo?"

He shrugs. "He'll be back on Sunday, same as Toph," Shouto dismisses the question, unconcerned. Natsuo doesn't really keep the rest of them informed about what he's doing, and rarely answers his phone. Mostly because it drives their father crazy, and irks Toph that he's allowed so much more free reign than her.

Inasa cocks his head to the side. "Aaaand your big sis?"

"...Work." Shouto answers distractedly.

Usually he lets others fill up their conversation with talk, but he's been meaning to bring something up with Inasa for a while now. While it's common for most of the Todorokis to be out of the house, Toph and Shouto are different, ironically, because they share the same friends, and therefore hang out together all the time. When they're not, Toph sticks around the house because she knows it'll piss everyone off if she leaves without a Responsible Adult knowing where she is. (Shouto feels no pity for her. Toph's idea of _going out_ is far different from what any of the Todorokis deem _reasonable_.)

That being said, Toph is _away_ for once, and this is a rare opportunity for the two elemental users to meet without the third member of their unofficial trio.

The airbender nods a few times, looking at Shouto evenly. He doesn't bother asking after Endeavor, because he was in the news just this morning for stopping a robbery on patrol. Inasa bites the inside of his cheek as the two of them spill out into the refurbished courtyard. It really is pristine without Toph around to tear up the ground.

"Sooo—why exactly did you need _me_ to come over today?" Inasa asks finally, as Shouto turns to face him from the center of the yard. A slight breeze flutters Shouto's hair, blending the white and red strands over his forehead. "I mean, I kinda _guessed_ it already but you're acting pretty dramatic for a sparring session," he adds with a snort.

Shouto's mismatched gaze lingers on Inasa for a moment, before falling to the floor. "I want to… no, I _need_ to fight with my left side. But I keep… stopping." He can practically feel Inasa grow tense, even without looking at him.

_There it is,_ Shouto thinks uneasily. _I can't keep ignoring it…_

"Why haven't you asked Toph to help?" Inasa queries him, rocking back and forth on his heels. "I know things with your dad are kinda strained, so I guess you wouldn't ask him—" Shouto lifts his head in surprise, forgetting his train of thought, and Inasa quirks an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"How… did you know," he begins slowing, feeling his eyebrows knit together in confusion. "...about—my father?"

The airbender blinks down at him, baffled. "How did I know what? That you have problems with Endeavor?" Shouto gives a jerky nod, and Inasa sags like a deflated balloon. "Shouto, we've been friends for like—_ever_. You don't have to _say_ it. Endeavor's kinda a jerk to you sometimes, of course you don't want to train with him, he puts so much pressure on you." Inasa scratches his head, running a hand over his scalp like he's smoothing down the two centimeters of hair he has.

Shouto blinks. He's never spoken to Inasa about his difficulties training with his father, and Toph only knows as much as she does from actually _living_ with his family… But Inasa is much sharper than he acts. He must've come to his own conclusions about Shouto after knowing him for so long…

_Inasa,_ he thinks in a long overdue realization, _is a really good friend._

"We don't have to talk about it," Inasa says patiently. "Or, I guess we can? But you said you wanted to fight, so…?" Inasa's hands flutter nervously in the air, gesturing around the yard. "I just don't know why you want _me_, and not Toph or, like, train at _UA_ with your classmates—"

Oh, that's right. Shouto remembers his original reason for inviting him over. He can't put it off any longer, not when it's so clear that Inasa cares about Shouto's own feelings so much.

"Toph's been giving me a hard time about using my father's quirk, and I think you can relate," he interrupts Inasa quickly. "You've been holding back too, so we should work on it together."

"H-Holding back?" Inasa repeats faintly.

"Yes. You're only using air."

There's silence.

Inasa doesn't seem to react to Shouto, but upon closer inspection, he can see his hands balled into tight, white-knuckled fists. Shouto grows tense as well. The space between them feels charged with energy, like a bowstring pulled all the way back.

Shouto tries to meet Inasa's eyes again, but the taller boy's gaze is settled firmly elsewhere.

"Um. Is that—" Shouto sort of flubs his sentence, thrown off completely by Inasa's stiff expression. "I didn't mean it as an insult. Was that a wrong assumption?"

Inasa opens his mouth, still not looking at Shouto. His eyes glimmer. Then his jaw snaps shut and he paces away.

"Uh," Shouto stares after him, suddenly struck by anxiety. For a second it looked like Inasa was going to cry. "Are you leaving?"

Inasa walks all the way to the other side of the yard, crouches into a ball, and—disappears.

What.

_Where did he go?!_ Shouto feels his heart rate spike as he scans the yard. _Did he just run away? How could he—oh._

Inasa is laying on his roof like a starfish. A rush of relief crashes over Shouto, followed by a wave of more distress._ He never answered me. Is he upset?_

_But I'm not wrong, _Shouto muses._ I'm not wrong at all, am I?_

Inasa hadn't been properly training his air quirk for years, and it clearly started after he was rescued from Cato. The incident during his rescue suggested his quirk had been altered, though the quirk tests performed afterwards had produced no results. Despite being one of the most enthusiastic hero-hopeful Shouto has ever met, Inasa has become exceptionally reticent about actually showing off the full extent of his quirk. And when Inasa was put into 1-B instead of 1-A, it just solidified Shouto's suspicions that the airbender was, 1) not just an airbender anymore, and 2) resisting the reality that his quirk had changed.

But it'd be nice if Inasa actually specified _why_ he was on the roof.

"I'm going to get us some drinks," Shouto calls out to the boy, certain that drinks can't make the situation worse. Fuyumi always offers drinks when they have guests. She makes iced tea when Natsuo's upset. "Um, do you want any tea, Inasa?"

"Sure," Inasa calls back hoarsely. "Sure, sure, _sure, sure, sure…_"

_I broke him,_ Shouto ruminates, busying himself with kitchen supplies. _Toph's gonna kill us both now._

* * *

He doesn't know why he asked. Morbid curiosity, perhaps. What Touya heard about Amon's Vision from the streets had been pretty innocent overall. Appealing, even. They valued purer quirks like his Cremation, but also saw the inequality of quirked society. Their ideology tied in with the theory of the quirk singularity, and trying to control the endpoint of quirk evolution. That part kind of goes over his head, into scientific vocabulary he never really had a knack for, but it explained why so much of the Cato Raid involved medical and genetics experts. As much as it claimed to be a spiritual group, AV sounded like a bunch of evil scientists, and he didn't see the point in looking any further.

Not until he realized that brat and a bunch of other kids had been in danger for so long, and no one knew about it for years. Really, hero society _was_ going down the drain if this stuff slipped through the cracks.

So he asks about Amon's Vision. And as it turns out, the answers are complicated. The further you go, the wider the net, and the more spoiled fish you catch. Illegal gene therapy. Drug production. Human organ trade. The problem expands, twisting into other business and anchored in the foundations of too many different agendas. Militarized spiritual groups, like the Elementals. Ritual killings. Political lobbyists. A man named Tarrlok was the ostentatious spark that began it all, and yet it was the guy's father, Yakone, that broke off from Destro's cult a generation ago to revitalize the spiritual community. So there's no true beginning to it at all.

There isn't just one vision, one overarching goal of the organization. There's not just a hierarchy, there's a web, interconnecting like-minded shits in the shadows.

(Fucking _annoying_ to sort through. He starts taking notes, and feels like a student again.)

It's too much for any one person to unravel. It's fortunate enough that Cato Hospital was raided and those experiments were stopped. The idea of the rest of the cult—the vision, the fellowship, the organization—being eradicated entirely, for them to be ripped out, root and stem, was _unrealistic_.

Yet he finds himself cornering grunts in alleyways, and behind gas stations, and anywhere else the cameras don't work, and beating them until they give him a new target. *He lets them live, if you're wondering. You just can't live the same life as before when you're missing pieces. They're lucky enough that his quirk cauterizes wounds.)

"You're a funny one, Dabi," Giran comments to him every once in a while. There's no doubt that the broker knows most of what he's up to, but he's never heard a word of protest from the man either. "I wonder what sparked that fire under you, eh? Weeks and weeks of your usual dour work, and then…" Giran makes a vague gesture with his hand.

"If you have something to say, just say it," Dabi answers flatly, eyes half-lidded.

"On the contrary," Giran shrugs, taking a pull from his cigarette, "I don't think anyone has much to say on the matter."

He does it for months. On his own. With little more than his paycheck from Giran as backup. He loses his fair share of fights, but he's nothing if not tenacious. He exhausts himself trying to put together the web, and still goes out the next week to smoke out more. He's naturally on the leaner side, but the regular physical activity makes him even thinner, nothing but wiry muscle and bone.

He wears a surgical mask while he hunts. Uses his quirk in small, sharp bursts, but mostly relies on his fists or a pocket knife. No need to get Giran in trouble, he figures.

Is it Dabi or Touya that's doing the work? He can't figure that one out.

Amon's Vision is a large conspiracy once you factor in its many branches. If he didn't have to think about his next meal, it'd be easy to completely lose himself in this fucking mental ward of a conspiracy. Instead, he treats it like a very long pet project—_as if he has the luxury for such things_—and dedicates a fixed amount of time and energy towards the hunt. He doubts he alone can make a real dent in something as big as this, but it feels more constructive than existing for the next gig.

... For the record, Touya was never a villain.

Not _officially_, anyway. Maybe that's the track he was on, the fate he was hurtling towards full-steam and eyes wide open, maybe not. The fact is, he never got around to _killing_ anyone for Giran. He didn't burn down properties or develop some kind of _M.O._

* * *

_"Killing sounds awful," Toph admits softly, mud-bending a small pile in front of her while Touya lays back in the cold swamp. "Yeah, there's all the moral stuff, but it's just… one minute there's a living, breathing being, heart beating and limbs moving, and the next it's just another thing, an object. Maybe it's different for you sighted people," she shrugs. "I can't even stand it when I feel birds die," she adds, filling in a gap of knowledge he'd been worried about. She's much too young to see an actual person die._

_"I wouldn't say it's much different for everyone else," Touya says, staring up at the canopy. The conversation came up in the first place because a fighter was arrested for murder recently. The Rumble itself hadn't been implicated, but it rattled them all. "But I guess we have the option of just… not looking. Not feeling it."_

_The girl makes a noise of dissent from the back of her throat, and when Touya looks up at her, she looks like she's bitten into a lemon. "You don't have to look at something to feel it. Wouldn't you just know?"_

_"Not if you don't think about it," he points out. "You can't be weighed down by something you don't know."_

_She plays with the mud in her palms for a few moments and Touya watches the earth shift and swirl under her power. He can do something similar with his flames, though he can't let it touch his skin for so long. "I think you can," Toph answers eventually. "I think it's a burden on your spirit, regardless of whether or not you're aware of it."_

_"Well that implies we have spirits in the first place that can be burdened," he turns away from her, rolling his eyes. "The only mark you leave by murdering someone is on your permanent record. And in the papers, if you're flashy about it."_

_She scoffs. "Don't kid yourself, Hotshot. If that were true, everyone would be a villain."_

_"Well, that's how villains probably think about it," Touya concedes warily. "They have different morals than average people."_

_"We're not average people either," Toph replies seriously. "That doesn't make us villains. That doesn't make us capable of murder. My point is, either you have to be fucked up to murder someone, or murdering someone will fuck you up."_

_"That's too straightforward," he denies her claim. "What if it's self-defense, or an accident? Or what about when heroes murder villains, or when they can't save everyone in danger?"_

_"What's your point?" Toph asks sharply. "Imagine being forced to kill someone so you don't die. Imagine trying to save someone, and just coming short. Those aren't events you can just brush off."_

_He does try to imagine it, and for the most part, the earthbender isn't wrong. Except for one part._

_"And villains? What if you're a hero, and you kill a villain so he stops committing crimes? Someone indisputably evil, who's too far gone to be restrained or reformed." Touya wonders what she thinks of that. Personally, he thinks he'd be alright with killing someone that really deserved it. He'll understand if she doesn't have a straight answer, because she's just a kid—she probably hasn't thought this far into the idea to really understand it all._

_But she does answer, and when she does, Toph's voice is firm and steady. "What makes me special enough to decide who dies? I've met some terrible people, but never someone so hopeless that they deserve to die."_

* * *

It's annoying, how often he ends up thinking about his conversations with that brat. Though it's not like there's anyone else around for him to talk to about moral ambiguity. Giran? _Hell no._

Maybe there are people that shouldn't exist, but _he_ hasn't met any of them. Touya doesn't pity the idiots that do bite the dust, but he's not… at peace with taking a life. The more he thinks about it, the more certain he is that killing a person would screw him up in one way or another. Probably tarnish his _soul_ or something, if it didn't leave him mentally unhinged in the first place. All that talk about feeling the life leave someone—_yeesh_. People call him a downer, but that brat really knew how to bring down the mood. She basically suggested that all killers are haunted by the spirits of the lives they took.

Touya doesn't believe in all that spirit crap. But ever since Toph brought it up, he can't _un-think it._

But the point is. He's a _criminal_, not a monster. However, investigating AV is becoming a little more intense than petty crime. Borderline vigilantism.

Shit, _no_, that's not what he wanted either. Vigilantism? That's way worse than having a hypothetically tarnished soul.

He should've realized how serious he was getting when a whole wall of his apartment ended up covered in notes, or when he starts moodily drinking away his frustration in a smoke-filled bar like he's magically becomes a hard-boiled detective at age twenty-one. Instead, he notices it when it's almost too late, and he comes close to kicking the bucket:

Someone gets _smart_, and his targets quit walking around unguarded. Annoying, but expected. Then, someone gets _proactive_—he tracks what he thinks are low-level thugs working with a trafficking ring and gets ambushed by four men lurking in the alleyway.

"So you're the bastard tailin' our guys, eh?!" one of them sneers, already sounding triumphant like this was his own bright idea. "You're not even worth the effort, but our Lord says it's better to snuff out a little kindling before someone tries fanning the flames, so—" The stranger ends his sentence with a volley of rock-like pellets that shoot from his hands, pummeling the fire user.

Overall it's eight against one, and Touya knocks out only three before he's getting the shit kicked out of him by the remaining five. He chokes up blood, trying fruitlessly to breath another gulp of air before it's knocked out of him again, when suddenly there's a screech of pain—that isn't from his own throat, nice—and a dark blur rushes in.

"What the—? This ain't your fight you—_ack!_" Someone's voice cuts off with a gurgle. Another man shouts in terror. Others beg for their life.

While Touya's busy wiping away drool and blood from his chin, the remaining five gang members are being thoroughly and completely outmatched by a single, ferocious entity. Touya blinks the haze away from his sight, and sees an oddly familiar man.

_That's… Stendhal, isn't it?_

It is.

_I'm in trouble,_ Touya thinks to himself, but that thought's at least ten years too late.

* * *

As much as he had thought this through beforehand, Shouto can't help but feel like this is the most difficult conversation he's ever had. And they haven't even _talked_ yet. Though Shouto and Inasa get along—and they _do_ get along, they slot together and work like cogs in a machine—his friend has a sensitive spirit and Shouto tends to speak his mind with the subtlety of an elephant.

"...Inasa." He tries anyway, because it's the right thing to do.

"Shouto," he answers, after chugging a whole glass of lemonade. They've already finished the iced tea. Shouto thanks Kami and every spirit out there that Inasa got off the roof.

"You can bend all four elements."

Inasa's face curls up like a dead leaf in winter. "_No I can't._"

His denial is so paper-thin that even Shouto knows better than to take him at face value. "I'm _pretty sure_ that you can, even if I haven't seen it."

"Shouto. I _can't_."

"Why not?"

"I—I just can't. It's _impossible_. It's—I shouldn't. It's wrong." And the look on his face is pained, afraid, but still very much a Twinkletoes face, and Shouto can kind of see that Inasa's being irrational about this. And maybe that Shouto's being irrational about his left side too.

"...No one's going to judge you. It's not your fault. But you'll regret not using your full strength," and is he even talking to Inasa at this point?

"I know that," Inasa says, and Shouto believes that he believes that, but...

_"Toph's_ not here to judge you."

Inasa splutters. "I—I'm not worried about—"

"But you are. She judges everyone, it gets annoying."

"Don't say that about her—"

"She's my best friend too, doesn't mean she's not a hardass."

Inasa's mouth falls open in surprise. Then he snorts, and sets his head on the table and chuckles madly into the crook of his arm. He sucks in a deep breath, and releases it in a long, heartfelt, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

"... I agree," he answers after a moment, though there was no question asked. Inasa lifts his head.

There is a mask that Inasa wears. It's been there for a while, and it's finally beginning to fade away. The face beneath it is a scared one, filled with uncertainty so unlike the Inasa that Shouto has grown up alongside. For the first time, Shouto sees his friend as the bleak, confused teenager that he is, rather than the happy-go-lucky child he was for so long.

Oddly enough, this feels like _progress_. He's not totally botching this up.

* * *

The spooky mask is a new addition. So is the bloodstained katana slicing through all his potential informants. Dread washes over Touya. Not because his self-imposed task has been interrupted by a vigilante, but because he might lose a valuable lead with one more stroke of that sword.

"S-stop!" He rasps, staggering to his feet. "Stop, no, don't kill that one!" There's a desperate edge to his voice that irks him, but on this occasion, it works in his favor. The blade hesitates over a frozen target, and the masked man cranes towards him like Koh shadowing a new identity to steal.

He abruptly remembers the story of the face-stealer, a nightmarish sort of bedtime story from his nightmare of a childhood._ Don't let him see your emotions._

There are dead and bloody bodies all around him, and Toph was right: it's _very_ hard not to think about them. He's not about to save the last thug's life by risking his own, but letting Stendhal know he doesn't want to watch people die is a no-go as well. The last man standing (actually, laying on the ground like a corpse) looks like a businessman, not a thug. It could be the bookkeeper he's been looking for.

Touya wrangles away the distraught ache in his gut, letting his face smooth out. "I need that guy to talk."

The trance breaks, and Stendhal stalks near him. The bald man, his original target, stays put on the ground. "Who are you?"

He almost blurts out _Dabi_, but holds back and _thinks_. The Rumble was over, but there had been a sense of alliance between the fighters. Even the ones who were far gone, like himself. He tugs the surgical mask away, pulling up a new mask of neutrality in its stead. "Hotshot. I was Hotshot in Loban's arena."

Stendhal straightens up, his shoulders pulled back. He's shorter than Touya, but lithe, and he moves with sharp purpose. He probably wouldn't need the weapons to overpower Touya, that's for sure. "I don't remember you."

"Well, I remember you getting your ass kicked a few times," he lobs right back, before clicking his jaw shut again. _Maybe I do talk too much._ He can't tell if Stendhal's offended or not with that full-face mask, though. He swallows down his apprehension—and a bit of blood in his mouth—and forges on. "I need information from that man. He's a lead."

"He's a trafficker," Stendhal rumbles, like the word itself is poisonous. "I already have all I need to rid this world of the Red Monsoon," he declares, referring to the trafficking ring moving human cargo through Tokyo and bolstering the mutant-organ trade industry. Stendhal turns back to his target.

He shakes his head, but the action only serves to make his dizzy. "Stop," he says again, almost losing his balance. "_No_."

"Go home before you pass out, Hotshot," Stendhal scoffs. And then lower, he adds, "You don't need to see this."

(In the back of his mind, Touya is disgruntled. This vigilante is really willing to let him go because of an old alias he's already renounced. He told that brat not to call him Hotshot, and here he is, four months later, eating his words.)

"No," Touya repeats flatly, lumbering towards the vigilante. "No, that's not all he—" The katana is raised. "I said no!" He shouts. He's long since lost his pocket knife, and he isn't close enough to physically stop the sword. So Touya reaches with his fire and flings it like a _whip_, slicing a thin blue hotwire through the whole alleyway.

Stendhal leaps onto the fire escape to avoid it, and the angry sound he makes is animalistic. "You don't want me for an enemy, kid."

"_Shut up_," Touya hurls back, because his whole body feels like a bruise and it better not be for nothing. "He's valuable. He's not just a trafficker, he's a fucking _cultist_," he mutters, feeling a spike of pain run through his side. He presses a hand against a deep cut on his left, knows the blood is draining from his face, but refuses to let the pain show. "A-And I mean _The Cult_. The only one that's worth talking about. Amon's Vision."

_That_ gets Stendhal's attention. "The Avatar purists? They're nothing but a ghost tale these days." He cocks his head to the side, and Touya's skin crawls as if there's daggers coming from the vigilante's eyes. "Besides, you're a _firebender_. Sure you're not looking to join?"

"Not interested," Touya dismisses him frankly, too sore to feel offended. "And trust me, they're more real than you think."

The vigilante hops off the ladder, cocking his head to the side some more, as if he's just waiting for Touya to step out of line so he can slice off an appendage. For a long moment, he says nothing. Touya still can't see the man's face, but he feels Stendhal's eyes picking him apart and examining the pieces for flaws. He has no illusions about Stendhal's been up to since the Rumble closed down. If he didn't like what he saw in Touya, he would not hesitate to skewer him like the rest of the Red Monsoon thugs.

_Fine,_ Touya thinks wildly, lifting his chin. He's barely standing up straight, not like he can do much if Stendhal picks a fight now. _Look all you want. I bet Koh wouldn't even want this face._

At last, the vigilante speaks. "So why do you want information on them?"

"Why do _you_ want to kill a member of Red Monsoon? Am I not being obvious enough for you?" Touya mutters.

The bald man gasps, beginning to twitch like he's just remembered he can move. Stendhal raises his hand beneath his mask and a moment later, the trafficker is frozen again. "No no no!" he cries, breathing unsteadily. "No, please, don't kill me!" He sobs, finally catching onto the conversation. Touya creeps closer, not bothering to pull up the mask. Stendhal doesn't stop him. "Please! Please, I'll tell you about AV, but you can't let him do this. I don't want to die!"

Touya eyes Stendhal again. He doesn't know what Stendhal's quirk is, but the man is clearly paralyzed by something more than his own fear. "You _heard_ us talk," he reminds the bald man flatly, gazing down at him dispassionately. "You'll say anything to survive. I can't trust what you say." He lets his fingertips dance with bright flames.

"No, please! I do know! I-I worked at the prison, I was there when they got Tarrlok out—"

_I'm not going to kill this guy,_ Touya thinks to himself idly. _But Stendhal will._

"That's old news," Touya dismisses him. "I don't care how they got him out, that was years ago."

"I-I manage the paperwork i-in Saitama—"

_Isn't it the same as killing him myself if I let this masked guy do the work?_ There's no way he can overpower Stendhal, and the guy really has it out for these traffickers.

"Saitama doesn't matter anymore, Cato's a dead end, so—"

"Not just Cato Hospital!" The man says shrilly. "I do plenty of work in Saitama police department too!"

Well. That's unique enough for Touya to pause. He '_does_' work, present tense. AV was supposedly burned out of Saitama, courtesy of the Flame Hero.

"That ended with Puppetmaster's death," Stendhal butts in, curiosity finally winning out. "Without her, there was no way to control that many people."

_I've been letting people live, and it's finally backfired on me. AV knew they were being targeted because I left witnesses..._

The bald man's eyes widen at Stendhal, like he's forgotten he was there. "There's always another way," he hedges. "Y-you have to let me live. I'll help! I'll—"

_This man is going to die tonight._ The clarity of the thought startles Touya as his mind drains itself of everything else. _Am I supposed to save him? He's lower than dirt. He could crawl back to AV and ruin all my work to dismantle them._

"Can he feel pain like this?" Touya interrupts the blubbering man, eyeing Stendhal.

"Yes, he can."

He turns to the vigilante steadily, face so clear of emotion it's as good as wearing a mask. Blue flames dance along his fingertips, barely kissing his skin. "Let me handle the rest."

* * *

"You can't tell anyone. Not even Toph." Inasa's hand hovers in the air, over his half-full glass of lemonade.

_That seems like a terrible idea._ "Okay," Shouto promises anyway, because Inasa is his best friend, and what other option does he _have?_

Then the glass cup rattles on the table, and a wobbly orb of watery lemonade floats over Shouto's head, dancing in the air and twisting into ribbons. He already regrets promising not to tell. Inasa's quirk is beautiful, and it's a shame no one else is allowed to witness it.

Shouto tells him so, and suddenly his head is drenched and sticky with cold juice. The air-and-lemonade bender blinks at his with wide, guilty eyes. "...Can you bend it out of my hair?"

"Uh." His hair wiggles strangely over his scalp for a moment, then stops. "...No."

* * *

He doesn't like Stendhal much. In fact, Touya would rather he fucked off and left him alone. Unfortunately, he can't tell the vigilante to fuck off because he's also _delusional_, and Touya has seen the sort of bloodbaths he leaves behind when people don't meet his exact standards. It's his own fault for telling the vigilante what he knew about Amon's Vision. Now that Stendhal had a whiff of what AV was capable of, he's latched onto the scent and he's out for blood.

Vigilantes were unpopular for a reason. They're often worse than the shittiest heroes. This one strutted around with a holier-than-thou attitude, and plainly took some kind of sick satisfaction in murder.

(Touya left that bookkeeper in the alley. Blubbering like a baby, but _alive_.)

"My work is not meant for everyone. I understand that," Stendhal says, lurking over a fresh corpse. Touya didn't retch the first time he saw it, but only because he didn't have enough to eat that day. He's seen dead people before, but what Stendhal does is much more nauseating.

It's been about a month since they came across each other hunting the same thugs from Red Monsoon. Every few days Stendhal pops up in Touya's path, either with information on AV or fishing for what clues Touya's uncovered.

And then they end up hunting _together_, and Stendhal leaves a mess like a fussy toddler. Touya never actually _argues_, but he does serve looks that speak much louder than words, spurring Stendhal into some spiel about his methods. "What I do is ugly, yes. But it is necessary force if we ever want this society to survive." The vigilante levels his gaze with Touya. "They're _villains_. You want them gone. This is the best way."

_This is called disproportionate force in heroics lingo_, actually, Touya thinks. _One of the most common criticisms in modern heroics_. There's plenty of registered heroes that go too hard on villains. At some point, it just becomes senseless. _Grotesque_. Touya's quirk gets ugly so easily, he knows what it looks like when he goes all out. He knows what it does to a victim, and to himself. And he knows the exhilaration that accompanies that power, too.

* * *

_"It's excessive," Toph snaps, chin lifted high and her feet sturdily cemented into the swampy earth. Touya is bowed over, panting from exertion as the forest sizzles around them. This is the first time he's seen her so scornful. "Are you a peacock? A gorilla, banging your chest? All those fancy flames thrown in one go—it doesn't make you more powerful. It's wasteful. Have some fucking class."_

* * *

Stendhal has a point about decaying society—a point Touya could actually get behind, if he's being honest—but the vigilante's definitely missing the mark on what's necessary to make those changes. Leaving a bloody message to scare other villains is messed up. Maybe it's effective, but in Touya's experience… it's just a hop and a skip away from total megalomania.

And as Toph would put it, "Have some fucking class, Stendhal. You look like a _nutjob_."

The older man bristles, but when he turns to Touya, the firebender only offers a neutral face. He's only stating the facts, after all. "I'm doing what's necessary," he sneers. "I take no pleasure in my role."

"I think you do," Touya admits, crouching by the remains of an older man to check his ID. Might be useful to keep any official licenses or documents he has on him, if it's not bloodstained. Oh, yeah, he's going to barf when he gets home. "Not many people live to see you after you complete a 'mission', but I'm here, and I'm telling you—_you look like you enjoy it_."

"You can't even seen my face," Stendhal points out lowly, and Touya would be more cautious if he weren't sliding his katana away.

Touya shrugs. "Just seems like you're misinterpreting _Plus Ultra_, y'know," he dares to mention that school motto, knowing it'll rattle Stendhal.

"What would _you_ know of dedicating yourself to a cause?" Stendhal hisses. "You're no hero yourself."

"I never said I was," he replies, only barely restraining himself from sounding utterly offended at the thought. "I'm not trying to be a _hero_."

At this, Stendhal is silent. He can tell he's being stared at, but the vigilante doesn't move a muscle, letting the firebender stew in his last words for a horrible long moment. Then, out of the blue, he lifts his hand and unties his mask solely to give Touya the most _unimpressed look_ he has ever been served.

"_Really_," the older man drops the word like a bear trap on his foot, and the implication of his tone bites into Touya's very soul.

_I'm the idiot now,_ Touya thinks mournfully. The fact that he and Stendhal were going after the same target, working in tandem, meant he had become some sort of dumbass vigilante.

And yet…

And yet, the next time he goes out with Stendhal, stalwartly denying what he's doing is vigilantism, Touya feels some level of satisfaction. Not because of his own actions, not because he's hopped up onto a soap box now. Not even because he finds a new lead on Amon's Vision that crops up a new location to investigate.

He eyes the bodies crumpled in the street that Stendhal has left behind, and sees that they're all breathing. Wounded and battered, but alive and whole.

Maybe he's not the only one changing.

* * *

"Shouto… can we do this again?" Inasa's voice is quiet and shy and Shouto dislikes the notion that it might stay that way. "We. We didn't even practice with your fire, so…"

"We need a different location," Shouto points out, eyeing the courtyard. The water could be explained away by Shouto's ice quirk, but anything more would be pretty obvious.

"...There's this clearing in Ueno," Inasa's voice is still hesitant and low, but he's not laying on the roof so Shouto tries not to be bothered by it. "Well. It's more like a _marshland_. I've only been there once, back when I still… It's a good spot. No one goes out there."

Toph isn't allowed to go out without telling a Responsible Adult, but Shouto technically has no restriction. It certainly feels like he's sneaking around behind everyone's back, but he was going to do that anyway to figure out how to use his left side, so.

"That sounds good," Shouto agrees, though it also sounds like he's being a hypocrite. "Just tell me when."

_It's okay, because this is important,_ he reasons. Inasa departs from the house looking sunnier than when he arrived, and it reaffirms Shouto's choices. Toph can't know about this, but she would understand. Everyone would.

...Right?

* * *

A/N: If you're wondering why I put such different storylines into the same chapter, it's because they're centered around the same theme: idiot boys making idiot life choices. Also, y'know, different facets of one's identity. Touya, who is Dabi, who is Hot Shot, who is also some kind of vigilante. Inasa, who is Twinkletoes, who is the Avatar. Shouto, who is Confused, whose conspiracy theories are actually pretty accurate in this story.

I'm not too crazy about how this chapter came together, I hope it's not too confusing? Touya's plot line hasn't reach present day, because I wrote too much and couldn't get to that part, my b.

Also, oh my god, what the fuck is the tone of this chapter? Grimdark? Ironic? Light-hearted and awkward? Uhh let's just say it's because of the whole Changing Identities Trope I'm trampling all over.


	19. B3:Avalanche-Midoriya, & Other Bad Ideas

The next week, Toph and Shouto catch the same train as Shinsou on the way to UA. Endeavor was a little tetchy about them not taking one of the cars, but who cares what he thinks? It just drew more attention from the other students, and not the kind that Toph really wanted.

"How's Kouta doing?" Shinsou asks, yawning hugely.

"He's getting big. And he's bratty," Toph admits, thinking back to her visit to the mountains. She'd been very close to having an actual conversation with the Wild Wild Pussycats, but Kouta took up all her time, dragging her around the hiking trails and insisting that they color pictures together. The six year old had no problem asking a blind girl to draw with crayons. But none of that's really a problem—the problem is the horrible tantrums Kouta throws when she tries to leave. Toph does her best not to dwell on why he's so clingy.

"Uh huh… Todoroki, you alright over there?"

Toph and Shinsou turn to their third friend, who was clutching the pole between them like his life depends on it. "Oh, he's never taken the train during rush hour," Toph explains, shaking her head.

"You have issues with crowds?" Shinsou wonders, surprised. Then he scoffs. "Maybe you should stick to private limos."

"No." Shouto denies slowly. "There's just a lot of people here…"

"That's called a crowd, Peppermint," Shinsou says flatly. "Did they not cover that in your homeschooling?"

Toph stays quiet. She already knows what kind of conversation this is going to be.

"...I don't have any issues with crowds," he refutes again. "But there's no space. And people keep getting on." Shouto doesn't seem particularly worried or nervous about this, just out of his depth. Toph doesn't care for public transportation that much either, but she's had time to get used to overcrowded trains.

"Well you see," Shinsou drawls, "There's a lot of people in Tokyo that _don't_ have their own drivers."

"I see that…" Shouto looks around, thoughtful. "It's rather dangerous."

"That's what life is like for us lowly middle-classers. You could've used your driver."

"But I've never been on a train during rush hour."

"I… okay," Shinsou rubs his temple. "But you're rich. And you have a driver. You're just taking the train for the cultural experience."

"No, I'm taking it to class."

Shinsou tilts his head back and groans in exasperation. Toph loves it when Shinsou and Shouto try to be friendly, it's always such a trainwreck. Toph figured out pretty early on that the brainwashing teen has a tendency to turn idle conversations into verbal spars, something he has to win just for the hell of it. His idea of friendship includes constant heckling.

On the other hand, Shouto is so blasé that he won't notice anything but an outright insult. Even then, he doesn't get fired up. Shinsou could probably set him on fire and all Shouto would do is apologize for his accidental quirk usage. The closest they got to actually irritating each other is when Shouto first realized he was being called 'Snowflake', because he thought Shinsou was referring to Fuyumi and flirting with her. Toph nearly fell out of her chair laughing.

Despite this, Toph thinks they get along pretty well. Shinsou seems to have taken it as a challenge to provoke Shouto into an argument without actually offending him. And the dual-quirk student just likes Shinsou's company.

Toph pats Shinsou on the back in consolation. "Let it go, Snoozles. He's immune."

"Immune? I'm not a virus," he mutters rebelliously.

She grins. "Maybe you are, I'm getting sick of listening to you."

Shouto chuckles. Shinsou throws up his hands in defeat. "How does everything else go over your head except _that?_"

"Oh, were you trying to tell a joke earlier?"

* * *

Aizawa was going over his class's mock battles. Over the weekend, students were given video footage of their own fights and they were viewing the footage again in class with their homeroom teacher. Eraserhead invited a lot more analysis than All Might had during the actual exercise, and it was beginning to grate on every student that he found so many flaws.

Toph only had the audio to work with, but had declined Aizawa's offer of a descriptive video when they received their footage on Friday. She remembered her own fight well enough, and could vaguely sense what Bakugou had been up to against Midoriya too.

Eraserhead's personal harsh critiques aren't the only thing riling up the class. Ashido is sulking in her seat after her plan was trashed by Yaoyorozu's scrutiny of it. Tsuyu pulled no punches telling Aoyama his flashy quirk was unsuited for his battle.

Toph already knows she's going to pick a fight when they finally reach her fight with Midoriya and Iida. She's been stewing over it all weekend.

"Now, from the get-go it looks like Bakugou and Beifong had some difficulties cooperating with each other," Aizawa states in a lethargic drawl. He's really trying to get through all the footage in one afternoon, a taxing task for the underground hero. "You may have won your fight, but that can evolve into a serious issue in the workplace if you two can't cooperate on the fly."

Bakugou scoffs loudly. Beifong raises her hand but doesn't wait for Eraserhead to call on her. "I disagree. We worked fine together, Sensei."

Aizawa pauses. "We have the audio from your communicators here too, Beifong," he says, as if that's enough to refute her claim. It's not. "You're yelling at each other for most of your planning time."

"What's that got to do with anything, huh?!"

Toph crosses her arms tightly, biting the inside of her cheek so she doesn't automatically yell like Sweaty Hands. "So what if it was loud? Bakugou and I agreed on the plan." Her problem with her mock battle actually had nothing to do with her partner.

The teacher sighs. "_Ideally_, you two would have acknowledged that you picked the wrong targets. Bakugou was a better match for Iida's speed, and your combat style could have easily subdued Midoriya without injuring either party." Midoriya squawks in indignation and Toph grits her teeth. "Furthermore, Midoriya. Your plan—"

"What do you mean I'm not a _match_ for Iida?" Toph interrupts again, unable to stop the demand from escaping her lips. "He's fast, and I _caught_ him." It was no different than Shouto freezing over the building.

"But you were injured in the process, Toph-san!" Iida jumps into the discussion urgently. Last week he was voted co-class-president alongside Yaoyorozu and he's been oscillating between _tolerable acquaintance_ and _pain in the ass_ ever since. "If we consider the injuries you sustained against me, and the injuries Midoriya had after facing Bakugou, the better option would have been to target Midoriya before he could use his quirk."

"You think Earth Bitch coulda beaten Deku _better_ than me, huh?!" Bakugou finally erupts, kicking his desk. His hands crackle with small explosions.

"I could've taken you down in _one move_, Engine Legs," Toph says heatedly, ignoring Bakugou and Aizawa's quick order for him to settle down. "I could've pulled out the whole _floor_ you were on, and done the same to Midoriya." She must sound particularly ruthless when she says this, because Kaminari shivers in his seat.

"Wh—then why _didn't_ you?" Midoriya yelps, sounding particularly awe-struck by the thought. "L-looking at y-your footage, Beifong-san, you spent a lot of time waiting for Iida-kun to attack rather than take the initiative yourself."

Toph opens her mouth to retort, but Bakugou is faster. "Because it woulda torn up the building, _Shitty Deku_," her explosive teammate growls out, making Midoriya jump in his seat. "That was part of the fucking test of doing an indoor battle."

"You're one to talk," Jirou snarks out of nowhere, a finger curled around her earlobe-thing. "You took out a whole wall trying to hit Midoriya."

Bakugou's hands slam down on his desk. "Oh, you think you'd do fuckin' _better_, Ear Bit—?"

"That wasn't a load-bearing wall," Toph interjects sharply, rolling her eyes. "And he actually aimed for his target. Unlike _Midoriya_, who destabilized the upper floors with his punch. And lost the match because he _hit the damn bomb_." Jirou bristles in her seat, as do a few others, but it's Midoriya that trembles with shame and frustration. Good. He should feel like an idiot, because he was one. "In a _real_ fight, Midoriya would've killed us all with _that_ plan."

"I-I-I am very sorry for that, Beifong-san, but I was playing the villain role?" Midoriya quietly points out. "So in a real fight, as a villain, I'd rather we all lose than let the other team win…"

The class pauses for a moment, considering this perspective. "Whoa, I guess that makes sense…" Tape Guy murmurs.

"That's _deep_, Midoriya," Ashido exclaims.

Makes sense? _Deep?_

Toph wants to throw something at that bone-breaking dunderhead.

"What kind of bullshit logic is that?" She says in the severest tone she can manage. "You and Iida—why would you start making up villain origin stories?! Yeah, the fight was centered around a villain-hero conflict, but the point of having a bomb in the building was to _prevent_ all of us from wrecking too much shit—including_ yourself,_ Midoriya."

The more she thinks about that stupid fight, the more annoyed she is at how it went.

None of the other teams had as much trouble taking on their opponents in a straight fight, but Iida and Midoriya went all out in _all the wrong ways._ It shouldn't have been staged as a villains-versus-heroes battle, because clearly these idiots took 'villains' to mean 'anything goes'. If Midoriya had just looked at his task as a hero's job, he wouldn't have fucked up his arm for a villain's idea of a victory. He probably still would have fucked up his arm, but maybe he'd do it in a _useful_ way.

It still irks her, the way Midoriya teetered into class the next day. Healed but still wearing bandages because a light breeze would be enough to knock him over. He kept clenching his hand over and over again. For a moment, during math class, Toph stopped paying attention to Cementoss to figure out what he was doing. Her senses focused on the other side of the classroom, and his injured arm trembled differently than the rest of him, healed but not really _whole_ just yet.

All that effort. He hurt himself _badly_ in that fight. _And he didn't even win_.

"I disagree!" Iida shouts. "The point of the bomb was to pressure the heroes into making quick, difficult choices, and the villains would respond as the consequences of those choices!"

"If that were the case, the exercise was useless to everyone playing the villains," She retorts snidely. "They _all_ could've chosen to blow everything up to really 'play the part'," Toph shoots down Iida's fervor in an instant. She hears his jaw click shut, and the students around them murmur at the spectacle of this discussion.

Aizawa clears his throat. "All of you, stop talking. _I'm_ leading the discussion, and we will do it _civilly_." He waits for a moment as the class settles. "Moving on, Iida's tactics in his fight with Beifong were flawed. His bursts of speed aren't meant for enclosed spaces, and he chose a poor location for defending the bomb in order to maximize the amount of glass he could scatter on every level…"

"That was a good tactic though! Beifong couldn't use her quirk as easily that way, right?" Kaminari calls out, and Toph thinks she can hear Aizawa's blood pressure rising… yeah, she can. Poor man. Toph raises her hand and doesn't hesitate to keep adding her own insights.

* * *

"How did your lesson go today, Aizawa?" Yagi asks politely, sipping on lukewarm tea in the teacher's lounge.

Aizawa doesn't answer, but the murderously exhausted look on the man's face makes the conversation wither and die before it even begins. Aizawa takes the longer couch in the room and promptly lays on it, face-down.

Somehow knowing that he's at fault for Eraserhead's current state, since his class was supposed to be reviewing their battle results, he finishes his tea quickly. "I'll just leave you to it," Yagi says agreeable, shuffling out of the lounge without a word.

* * *

"Toph," Shouto gets her attention as they pack up their belongings and head to the cafeteria. Sugar Queen isn't trailing after him today, but is currently caught in an avid discussion about tea leaves with Jirou. Earlobes does not know anything about tea, but Aoyama seems intrigued. Inasa and Shinsou weren't going to be at lunch either because they had a physics quiz to study for, and apparently they both sucked at that subject.

"Yup?" She gets a good estimate of what Shouto's problem is just by the way he says her name, but obliviously picks at her ear rather than acknowledge it. "We should sit outside, seems nice out."

"Are you mad?" He asks frankly, brushing off her casual comment. "The green-haired—um, Midoriya kept glancing at you, by the way." Toph arches an eyebrow. She was fully aware that Midoriya was more of a nervous wreck than usual after Aizawa ended his analysis on their battle, but obviously it was much harder for her to tell if someone was looking at her. "I don't think anyone expected you to get so heated about the battle," he adds pointedly.

Toph smoothly ignores that last part. "Huh," She says vaguely. "Why do you think I'm mad?"

"Do you ever listen to yourself?" Shouto asks dryly as they pick up lunch trays from the cafeteria line. Toph goes through the daily motion of repeating the same lunch items as Shouto to Lunch Rush, and letting the hero chef pick out anything else he thinks she ought to have. Unlike past cafeteria workers, Lunch Rush always advocates for high protein diets and doesn't shy away from giving her plenty to eat. "You're pissed off." He pauses as they pick an unoccupied table, and taps her knuckles lightly. "You're _still_ pissed off."

Toph loosens her arms until her hands aren't curled into fists anymore. It takes a while longer to unstick her jaw and stop grinding her teeth. "Don't know what you mean."

"You're not fooling anyone," Shouto mutters. "And I thought _Inasa_ was obvious."

Toph chooses not to answer that. She slides her foot along the ground and her mouth turns downward in annoyance at what she senses. "Is that Iida bringing Midoriya over here?"

Shouto looks around the lunchroom for what she's talking about and hums his agreement. "You never told me how you know Iida, by the way." Toph forgot about that. She told Shouto she'd gone to school with Engine Legs, but that's it...

"There isn't anything to tell," she admits quietly. Midoriya and Iida reach their table before Shouto can protest.

"Toph-san!" Iida greets her loudly. "I'd like to introduce you to—"

"I know who he is, _co-prez_," Toph huffs, setting down her chopsticks. She says 'co-prez' with as much sarcasm as humanly possible, but Iida, a pain in the ass today, still puffs up with pride. Toph pointedly turns to Midoriya. "What do you want."

"H-Hi! Beifong-san? It's...me. Um, c-can we talk?" He fidgets a ridiculous amount while asking this.

"We're already doing that," Toph points out. "But sure."

"Yes. Well. Can I ask you about homeroom?" Midoriya flinches out of nowhere for some reason. "O-or not, if you don't feel comfortable that's totally okay too! But it's just that I wanted to ask you about the things you said in homeroom, I guess, just because you seem kind of upset and I don't know _why_…" His voice is near a whisper as his sentence peters off.

Toph's eyebrows creep up her forehead before she realizes Shouto must be doing something stupid with his face that's making the bone-breaking kid more anxious, because Toph isn't even glaring. One of these days they're going to have a talk about this weird protectiveness thing other students keep mentioning. She whacks her friend in the arm and gets to her feet.

"Ow," Shouto complains, more out of habit than anything. Shouto gets sulky if she punches too hard. "I didn't do anything."

"Yeah, and I'm a badgermole," she says sardonically.

"What the hell is a badgermole?"

Toph has no idea, but she won't admit that. "Let's talk somewhere quieter."

"R-right. Okay. If you're sure. Thank you…" Midoriya hovers around the edge of the table.

"Lead the way," Toph prompts him. She figures letting him pick a spot might calm him down, though she's not sure this kid is capable of not trembling in social situations.

"Y-yes! Okay." He turns on his heel and marches towards the nearest exit. Cool, Toph had wanted to sit outside anyway. She doesn't hear him muttering for once as they approach a large tree on the campus grounds, but she gets the feeling he could work himself into a heart attack if left alone with his thoughts.

He turns to her when they reach the shade. "So. Beifong-san. You… had a lot to say in class. About… me. And I wanted to know if I've offended you, because I _really_ don't want to get off on the w-wrong foot here. We're only in our first semester, and I want to get along with all my classmates—even Kacchan, _maybe_, some day—because everyone here has amazing quirks and there's so much to learn from everyone—"

"_Midoriya_," Toph says to stop him from rambling, frowning. The boy jolts hard at hearing his name from her, fiddling with the hem of his uniform with his healed arm. She zeroes in on his hand unconsciously, but still doesn't know what to say.

"Ah. Y-yes?" He quivers like a leaf, and Toph frowns harder. She doesn't sit very close to Midoriya in class, and while she could sense everyone from afar, her 'sight' is a lot sharper from this distance. "Is… is there a problem? With me?" He asks seriously. "To be honest, I understand the points you made about our fight. L-looking back on your footage, you were so careful with your quirk, it's amazing how much _control_ you have, so I see why you might be annoyed with me for all the destruction I caused… "

Control. The epiphany hits Toph abruptly. "Shut up," she tells Midoriya. He flinches again, but there was no heat behind her words. She pinches the bridge of her nose. "How's your arm?"

"My… _arm?_" He sounds like he's about to have an aneurysm. Toph's actually a little concerned. How does he live like this? "Wh-what's wrong with my—? The arm I broke? This one? I'm pointing to my right arm."

He is indeed, pointing to his right arm. Which was broken in multiple places last week. Toph holds out her own hand, palm up.

"Uh?"

She wiggles her fingers. "Don't be weird."

Midoriya makes a strangled noise. Toph does her best not to snort as he hesitantly places his forearm in her grasp. His heart rate spikes again, the coward. It's such a strange contradiction for him to be so spineless and fearless at the same time.

"Wh-what exactly is this a-about? Recovery Girl healed me again, if that's what you're concerned about—"

Toph ignores him, concentrating on the limb. She doesn't have to make her own vibrations to see him properly, not with how close he is. Plus, the blood pumping through a body gives off its own unique rhythm for her to sense. The limb is intact, all the bones in place, but… "How many times have you broken this arm?"

"Eh? Twice? I don't really have a good handle on my quirk, like I said. I also, kind of, um, broke it pretty badly in the entrance exam last fall. And my legs. But it's fine, Recovery Girl was there to fix me."

"My quirk has broken my hands a few times," Toph explains casually, releasing his arm. She runs a finger over one of the thin scars that remain over her knuckles, though she's not sure if Midoriya's watching or not. His bone structure is similarly scarred, though her fractures are much smaller and more numerous. "At least four or five times when I was ten."

Looking back on it, the Quirk Rumble really did a number on her. No wonder Stendhal was so mad at her for competing, not to mention Endeavor.

"_Oh._" Something in Midoriya's tone shifts to realization, and he relaxes by a fraction. "I'm sorry to hear that, it must've been quite a strain to learn your quirk—"

"It wasn't like that. I already knew my quirk," she says, cutting him off before his words take a turn towards pity. "And it doesn't happen to me anymore because I have control." Toph pauses. "You haven't offended me, Midoriya, but it pisses me off that you're this powerful but so _terrible_ at using your quirk."

"O-oh." He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "My, um, quirk manifested pretty late, and my body still isn't strong enough to wield it. I'm working on it." He hesitates again, and then adds, "Aizawa-sensei told me, during his test, that if I can't use my quirk without it crippling me, I don't have any potential as a hero."

"He's _right_." That explains his finger injury in the ball toss. "The fractures in your hand are more serious than what I used to get," Toph tells him curtly. "It leaves marks. Your bones heal, but they don't heal _evenly_." Toph purses her lips. She's not the type to lecture anyone on their reckless behavior (who is she to judge people on that?) but Midoriya was very, very powerful. And his lack of control is frustrating to watch. "If you don't control that quirk, you really will cripple yourself."

She closes her mouth before she can yell '_Don't fucking do that_' at him.

"I… I know. Thank you. Recovery Girl's warned me about it too," Midoriya answers. He's not annoyed with her pointing it out, though Toph would understand if he were, but she can't quite make sense of his tone either. He clears his throat. "I didn't think anyone would be paying that much attention to me, to be honest. Is this why you were so annoyed about the battle?"

"...Your plan sucked too. But yeah," she says tersely. It feels like she's admitted something wrong now, because Midoriya doesn't freeze up like a deer but sags like a melting ice cream cone, relieved. Toph turns on her heel and heads back to the cafeteria.

Midoriya yelps and quickly catches up to her side. "I'm sorry for worrying you," he squeaks. Toph doesn't say anything. "So, um. Your quirk allows you to see bones?"

That's a weird way to put it. Toph hasn't really thought of her seismic sense that way, and she clicks her tongue. "Kinda."

One word. She says _one_ _word_. But it opens a floodgate.

"How does that work?" His usual fervor returns with a vengeance. "You were able to locate Iida in an instant during our fight, how exactly does that tie into geokinesis? I thought it was like Pixiebob's quirk, but I know she can't locate people like you can, that's what Ragdoll is for. I assumed you needed contact with the ground to fully use your quirk, hence the broken glass on the floor, but _that_ was wrong too. Is it a supplementary power, because I don't really understand the connection—?"

"If you want me to answer you have to let me speak," Toph interrupts him, slowing down.

"Ah! R-Right! I'm. I'll be quiet. Please tell me." He actually slaps a hand over his mouth, which almost makes her grin.

Toph blows on the bangs on her face, parsing through his questions. She isn't crazy about giving a rival the inside scoop about her power, but if there's one thing she has discovered about her classmate, it's that Midoriya is a total quirk fanboy. He's been chatting up Infinity Girl and Engine Legs every day about their powers.

"My quirk connects me to the earth," she begins awkwardly. She hasn't had to explain herself so extensively in a while, not since Kano Izumi had her assessed properly for the Quirk Registry. "I don't just move rocks, I _feel_ them, and the vibrations everything sends through the ground. It's like a sixth sense. Or a fifth that actually _works_."

"Wow," Midoriya breathes. "That's _incredible_, Beifong. That does explain how you found the bomb and Iida, and how you navigate in class—are you _completely_ blind? I think most people assumed it was just a partial blindness."

"Yup. No light perception," she confirms plainly.

"Were… were you born blind?" He asks the question far too delicately for Toph's taste, and she slows to a stop before they reach the entrance to the mess hall. "I don't m-mean to be insensitive—"

"Don't pity me, Midoriya."

He flinches again at her curt words. "I… okay. I just like to know about quirks, th-that's why I'm asking all this."

Toph picks at her nails. "I'm aware. You mumble about quirks all fucking day." She thinks he's going to apologize again, so she quickly moves on. "Yes, I was born blind. My quirk manifested at birth too. I don't remember a time in my life where I couldn't use seismic sense."

He hums thoughtfully, tapping his lip. "That's rare, usually mutation-types manifest at birth…. But you're clearly an emitter." He rubs his hand over his healed forearm. "But anyway, this _seismic sense_, it extends to interior structures? Bones? Is it because of the density difference, or maybe because of the mineral components within the human body? Bones are made from both living cells and a matrix structure of calcium, so..."

Toph thinks about it, cocking her head to the side. She's never been questioned so thoroughly about her quirk. "Must be the mineral part. There has to be an amount of natural elements for me to earthbend," she explains, thinking of how she figured out metalbending. "So the same probably applies to the seismic sense."

"That's very useful! I wonder if you could assess an injury like an x-ray in the field?" He wonders eagerly as they enter the noisy cafeteria. "You'd be very valuable in rescue missions!"

"I'm not really a people person," Toph says doubtfully. "Plus, there's too many other injuries that I wouldn't be able to help with. I guess it wouldn't hurt to know how to set a broken bone, though." She helped Quillfish once when he dislocated his shoulder, but their medic had howled at her for doing that.

Midoriya is quiet for a long moment, and they finally reach Shouto, who is silent as Iida chatters at him about the Idaten Agency. Infinity Girl and Frog Girl are also sitting at the table.

"Toph," Shouto greets her. He has a naturally very monotone voice, but Toph can hear the hint of relief in his tone. "That took a while."

The nervous kid flinches again. "Oh. S-s-sorry, T-Todoroki, I guess we had a lot to talk a-about—"

"Sweet Kami, you need to _calm down_," Toph slides into her seat beside Shouto, exasperated. To her friend, she says, "You're going to give him a heart attack, Freezerburn."

"Ugh," Shouto sips more strawberry milk irritably. God bless Shinsou and his ever-growing collection of new nicknames.

Midoriya gives a nervous laugh that borderlines on hysteria. "I-I-I'm fine, Beifong-san, really! Sorry to bother you!"

"Whatever," she rolls her eyes, and then addresses the three others at the table. "Why are all of _you_ here?"

"Todoroki-kun said we could sit here!" Gravity Girl puffs her cheeks out. Toph raises a skeptical eyebrow. "Or, well, he said he doesn't care either way." That makes more sense.

"You usually sit with a few other people, but Todoroki-chan looked lonely today," Frog Girl points out in the frank way she points out everything. Shouto makes an indignant sound from the back of his throat. Toph isn't sure if it's because Tsuyu used "-chan" or because she called him lonely. "Are they from the other hero course, perhaps?"

Toph is already shoveling rice into her mouth, knowing there isn't much time left before their afternoon training. "Yes. The _dumbasses of 1-B_," she confirms. "Twinkletoes and Snoozles."

"Toph-san! You shouldn't speak about your friends so rudely!" Iida's hand swipes through the air swiftly, narrowly missing Shouto's nose.

"No, she's right," Shouto leans back subtly in his seat. "They're dumbasses." There's a strange sliver of chagrin in the way he speaks that surprises Toph.

Uraraka giggles into her noodles. "Y'know, Toph, sometimes you act just like Bakugou, but then you go ahead and give your friends such cutesy nicknames!"

Toph's expression sours. The point was to emasculate them, but Uraraka isn't… wrong. Inasa _definitely_ takes a weird amount of pride in what should be an embarrassing title. Shinsou actively tortures her with the mushiest pet names possible rather than argue over her own names for him.

Mm. Toph promptly picks up that train of thought, packs it tightly in a steel safe, and pushes it to the recesses of her mind. Cutesy? Toph doesn't know what that it.

"Well, Bakugou doesn't give nicknames," she replies smoothly. "He just doesn't fucking know anyone's names."

Uraraka snorts. "You think so?!" She cackles, clutching her sides. Midoriya, again, sounds moments away from cardiac arrest, and mutters his incredulity at people mocking Sweaty Hands. "Maybe! Earth Bitch, Ear Bitch—Glasses, Shitty Hair, Icy-Hot…" She devolves into more giggles.

"By the way, Toph-chan, I'm impressed with your fight. You were impolite about explaining it to Sensei, but you handled partnering with Bakugou-chan very well." Tsuyu speaks up, wiping her large hands deftly. "He has a terrible personality."

Uraraka wheezes with more laughter. "He does! He's nuts, I wish you could see the way he looks at Deku-kun!"

"K-Kacchan isn't that bad," Midoriya defends him softly. "He's, um, not a people person." Toph's mouth quirks into a brief smile. "But… There is a chance he doesn't know everyone's names yet." He admits, to everyone's amusement.

* * *

Hitoshi is looking forward to seeing everyone's quirks in action for their first rescue training lesson. They've done some combat training, but rescue work is much more complex than full frontal battles—it's a good opportunity to see who could think creatively, and who would apply their powers in clever ways.

"This is going to be great!" Yoarashi pumps his fist in the air. "I'm so excited, my heart's on _fire!_"

Hitoshi makes a show of patting down his jumpsuit. "Sorry, I don't carry antacids," he says with a yawn.

Yoarashi casts him an odd look, a small frown on his face despite the humor in his eyes. They're still somewhere in limbo in the friendship department, but at least Yoarashi could recognize a joke. "Shinsouuuu, why aren't you pumped?! Here's our chance to be _hot-blooded heroes_, and you're yawning!" The taller boy exclaims, cape fluttering behind him.

He can be eager and tired at the same time, it's called multitasking. "You're in a good mood," Hitoshi mutters, picking at the straps of his mask. He hasn't used it at all in training yet, instead following Vlad King's advice to focus on his hand-to-hand combat first, but he'll figure it out in time. It's tricky to work with right now.

His eyes slide over to Monoma, who's listening to Vlad's instructions about their lesson with a smooth smirk on his face. His quirk definitely isn't suited to rescue work, so Hitoshi wonders how he'll fair in their training. Not to mention his smug personality; there's no way Monoma knows anything about decent bedside manners. Hitoshi's eyes flicker over the rest of the class, before landing back on Yoarashi.

He already knew Yoarashi's quirk, and Hitoshi isn't so interested about how he would operate. He could use his quirk in short, powerful bursts, amplifying his speed and strength when in combat. He could also maintain a few wind currents of varying strength. It was a versatile quirk, but that's it. It might be more important to consider his demeanor when it comes to rescuing actual people, and in that department, Yoarashi's got almost everyone beat. Between him and Kendou, their personalities could outshine the sun itself on a good day.

And today, Yoarashi is _especially_ fired up. Maybe Toph gave him a pep talk, though that sounds unlike her. The lesson starts up quickly in the Collapse Zone, and the students are split between tasks: half of them are on search and rescue, and the other half deal with an active earthquake simulation, preventing further destruction of property.

Guess which group Shinsou's in?

It's like the entrance exam, he reasons, teaming up with the mushroom girl to clear up the rubble around a collapsing building. He gives her the suggestion to fill the gaps in the crumbling structure with fungus to temporarily reinforce it, and pulls his mask on to prevent the spores from sticking to him instead. Still, it's frustrating that he can't help more. He's not supposed to do the actual rescuing, but there has to be a more effective way to call attention to the building besides just activating their communicators.

"These won't hold for long," Komori warns him. "If there's another tremor too soon, we'll have to move on."

Touching his mask, Hitoshi has an idea.

Komori eyes him curiously, never seeing him use the mask until now. Unfortunately it can't amplify his voice, he'll just have to fucking scream, but he fiddles with the dials until he comes up with something satisfactory.

He gives the mushroom girl a wink before taking a deep breath and channeling his inner fanboy to bellow, "_HA HA HA! I AM HERE, YOUNG HEROES, TO ASSESS YOUR WORK! BUT WHERE'S THE RESCUE TEAM TO ASSIST YOUNG KOMORI?_" He screams, in a near-perfect imitation of the golden boy himself, All Might. It's not hard to mimic someone when he's heard the hero talk on TV through his entire childhood.

"Oh my god, All Might's _here?!_"

"I'm so excited I'm gonna puke!"

"I got Komori's location, you guys stay here!"

"No! _I'm coming too!_"

The students flock to their location like moths to a lamp, and Komori cackles at the enthusiastic turnout. Hitoshi knew she had a sinister streak beneath those bangs. "That was slick, Shinsou!"

Hitoshi pulls off his mask to give her a lazily grin before innocently looking around at the students approaching them. "Oh great, you can start looking for the targets," he says lightly, totally ignoring the confused expressions and questions about All Might. "I saw two on the ground level, but be careful on the upper floors…"

Suddenly the breeze picks up. Ah, he's attracted a wild airbender too.

"I'M HERE! STAND BACK GUYS, _I GOT THIS!_" Yoarashi shouts over his own twister, flying onto the scene like a maniac. Hitoshi pulls up his mask and squints against the wind.

"Yoarashi, you don't need to—" Hitoshi holds out his hands to stop him

"I GOT THIS!" The airbender raises his arms in great sweeping motions, and whips up the beginnings of an actual tornado.

"Yoarashi!" Komori shrieks, but her voice is getting lost in the wind. Dust begins to fly into the air, and they're all losing visual on the building. Hitoshi pulls up his mask and grabs mushroom girl's arm. "Wait, the spores—!"

Hitoshi hears him bellow out some nonsensical hero move, and the area erupts into chaos of dust, rubble, and an alarming number of mushrooms.

* * *

Later in the week, Aizawa has a field trip scheduled for 1-A. Toph is pretty sure they're starting rescue training, since that's what Twinkletoes's class is focusing on. The airhead stirred up some funny rumors yesterday by sending half his class to the infirmary for dust inhalation. She'll have to ask Shinsou for his account, because Twinkletoes straight-up ran away from the conversation rather than admit responsibility. Toph was kind of envious they'd already gone to one of UA's satellite locations for training, but now it was 1-A's turn.

"It sounds like they were in USJ," Shouto mentions blithely, adjusting the collar of his hero suit.

"Oh, where we took the recommended students' exam?" Sugar Queen inquires, and suddenly the two of them are surrounded by classmates hounding the recommended students for information. They're waiting for Aizawa's bus to arrive and take them to a new location for hero training, and Iida cries out in dismay when his orderly queue is ruined.

Toph slides away from the mass of chattering teenagers, finding a pleasantly quiet spot between Tokoyami and Midoriya.

Today's the first day she actually has a hero costume with proper footwear to get a good read of all her surroundings. Toph doesn't know what it's made from, but it sure as hell works with her quirk.

(Tokoyami really does have the head of a bird, she realizes pensively. Mutation quirks are wild.)

"Hey, Beifong-san?" Midoriya gets her attention tentatively. "You remember how we talked about your quirk?"

About how she could be an _x-ray machine?_ How could Toph forget? She's been looking into how well she can sense her own bone structure as practice ever since he brought it up. "Yeah, you gave me a lot to think about…" she trails off as Midoriya begins to flip through a small notebook. They hadn't been instructed to bring any writing supplies and almost everyone was in their hero suits now, so Toph's a little taken aback.

"So, I had a _few_ other ideas I wanted to run by you," Midoriya begins unceremoniously. "Also, your _costume!_ You look great! Could you explain what those coils are for? They did a good job on the color scheme, it's kind of like you match with Todoroki—"

"I do?" Toph asks blankly. Her costume was partially modeled after Yoroi Musha's samurai armour, and she knew Shouto was just wearing a lame jumpsuit with some temperature regulators. "Isn't it green?"

"It is, it's dark green and yellow, but the under-suit portion is blue and Todoroki's collar and shoulder straps are the same gold color as your headband but what I really want to know is what's in those metal devices on your belt—?"

"I'll show you in class," she promises flatly, picking at the collar digging into her skin. Toph doesn't care much for how her costume looks, especially not about the colors, but it's funny that Midoriya would compare her suit to Shouto's so readily.

Speaking of Midoriya, he scratches his pencil on his notebook, mumbling too quietly for her to make out more words.

Toph cocks her head to the side. "What could you _possibly_ be writing right now? Class hasn't started."

He jolts. "Um. Well. I like to document the quirks of heroes and the people I meet, and yours is really fascinating, so I hope you don't mind me taking notes? I'll stop if you want! I know some people find it invasive. But I didn't have any reference for your costume until now, either, so I wanted to add that before we got to the training lesson."

"You're _drawing_ me." Toph makes a face, unsure how to take that. "...I better look cool."

Midoriya exhales loudly, sagging again like she's taken a great weight off his shoulders. "O-Of course! I'm not the best artist but you're very cool!"

Ah, right. This is why she overlooks Midoriya's perpetual motor mouth. She can only stand him for short periods of time, but he's constantly in awe. "You're goddamn right I am," Toph smirks.

The bus finally approaches, and the class disperses from the huddle around the recommended students. The conversation drops away as Iida corralls them onto the bus, which isn't set up the way he expected. Toph sits between Tokoyami and Midoriya, with Uraraka on his other side. Shouto sits across from them, immediately sinking into his seat and into a light nap.

"Alright, what else did you write about my quirk?" Toph prompts Midoriya, adjusting the brace over her forearm idly.

Midoriya is quiet for a long moment, humming as he tapped his pencil on the page in his lap. "There's one theory that's really nagging me about your power. It was really surprising when you told me you could sense the fracture scars on my arm, because your seismic sense doesn't seem to _totally_ rely on the composition of what you're looking at. I mean, you located the dummy bomb in our battle, but it's paper mache."

Toph shrugs. "So maybe _it_ is more of a density thing for my seismic sense," she admits slowly. "Why is that a problem?"

"It's not… it's what you said about _earthbending_. That you need some amount of natural elements to earthbend. And bones are partly composed of organic minerals, which aren't interchangeable with inorganic minerals, but… you can sense bones so _complexly_… Beifong-san," he says with grave importance, voice lowered. "_Can you control me by my bones?_"

Uraraka, who's only been partially paying attention to their conversation, makes a strangled noise.

Toph's mouth falls open. "...Do you want me to _try?_"

"Beifong, _no!_" Uraraka gasps at the suggestion, while Midoriya replies, "Maybe?!"

"_Deku!_" Uraraka protests in an unduly horrified voice.

Toph approximates a glare at her. "What? I wouldn't hurt him or anything."

"You have very fine control over your quirk," Midoriya agrees fervently. "I think you can do it, if I understand your quirk correctly."

She nods along thoughtfully, flexing her own hand into a fist. "I can sense the refined minerals in metal," she reveals quietly. "And I can metalbend because of that, so…"

"If you can sense it well enough, there's a good chance you can bend it too!" Midoriya muses excitedly. Toph recalls Kirishima's quirk, and how her vision sharpened when he used Hardening. She hasn't explored extensions of her power since she figured out metalbending because of the toll it took on her body, but bones could work. Metal was a stubborn material against her earthbending, but bones just resonated differently.

"You might be onto something there," Toph realizes in quiet wonder. Midoriya's excitement seems to be infectious, because a smile worms its way onto her face. Bonebending could totally be a thing.

Uraraka splutters, killing the mood. "But that's _crazy_, Deku! You can't—that's so scary, how could you think of doing that, Beifong?"

"It was _Midoriya's_ idea," Toph retorts defensively. She wasn't going to practice her quirk on someone that didn't ask for it. "If he's consenting I'm down for trying it."

"Y-yeah," he nods vigorously, "This is a valuable opportunity!" He opens up his notebook again. "Beifong-san, how do you spell your name? Do you mind if we document the process?"

"I don't mind," Toph scratches her cheek. "My name is Chinese, but half the characters are adopted into kanji, so it's a little confusing to read—"

"_Beifong_," Eraserhead calls from three seats over, eavesdropping like a creep and loud enough that the rest of the class pauses their conversations to listen in. "If you break Midoriya's bones outside of a class exercise I'll expel you, consensual or not."

"_What?_" Shouto jolts upright from where he was drifting off.

Toph feels her face heat up a little, but stubbornly rolls her eyes. "The only one that has _actually_ broken Midoriya's bones is Midoriya himself," she crosses her arms but doesn't strictly protest his decision.

Someone chokes on their own tongue trying to laugh. The rest of the class explodes into questions.

"What's this about consensual bone breaking?!" Ashido screeches.

"Beifong just threatened Midoriya?!" Iida demands.

"I thought it was a proposition?" "Midoriya, are you a _masochist_?" "I totally guessed it!"

Toph grimaces as Midoriya melts into a nervous puddle in his seat. She pats his shoulder apologetically while he stammers through several denials.

* * *

The Unforeseen Simulation Joint, which is not _Universal Studios Japan_ as Hagakure laments, is a huge facility with several different disaster areas, perfect for rescue training with the Space Hero, Thirteen. It really seems cool, and Toph is looking forward to their lesson plan for three whole minutes before someone points out a disturbance near the center platform and everything quickly hits the fan.

"What's that? Is it like the entrance exam…?" Kirishima wonders. More and more figures step into the plaza, and Toph can't see where they're coming from. There's no wind, no sound from the air but a strange, shifting static. The mood, which was bright and positive just a moment ago, drops away into dread.

_Are they being teleported here?_ Toph takes a step towards the scene.

"Don't move." Eraserhead's tone is sharp enough that even she flinches. He pulls goggles over his eyes. "Those are villains."

Shame on Toph for thinking today could be normal.

"Thirteen and Eraserhead," one of the villains—Toph can't tell which one, it echoes through the air oddly—comments. "That's strange. The teacher's schedule…"

Toph doesn't hear the rest. She's too focused on the last figure that's stepped into the plaza, a hulking mass that stops beside a slim, young man. The larger person feels _wrong_ in ways Toph has never felt before, not even from the most unusual mutation quirks. They're huge, and have a beak-like face, but their steps are _muted_, even on concrete. Unlike the other villains, this one stands stock-still, barely breathing, not even shifting their weight to look around. The closest thing it resembles is someone under Hitoshi's control, but even then, it doesn't explain why they're so difficult for Toph to get a read on.

"...The Symbol of Peace. I can't believe he's not here." The slim man muses, and Toph brings her attention back to him at the mention of All Might. "I wonder if he'll come if we _kill some kids?_"

Their teachers are ordering them to escape now, and everyone's voices are strained with panic and adrenaline. Toph is tugged along by Hagakure. She can't leave. They can't _leave_.

There are dozens and dozens of villains spreading themselves over the plaza. More, scattering into the disaster zones around the training facility. But the greatest threat, as far as Toph is concerned, is the young man with hands over his arms and the silent giant standing in the center of the plaza, waiting.

Eraserhead doesn't hesitate to run headlong towards them, muttering something about not being a one-trick pony. Toph feels horror creep up her throat as they move towards the exit, because there's no way this will end well.

The exit isn't far, but the air shifts. Toph hears static again, and Thirteen shouts out a warning for them to stop.

"Oh, I'm afraid you're not allowed to leave," that same voice from earlier is closer now, between them and the exit. A warp villain. He announces the name of their little posse like they're supposed to fucking recognize what the 'League of Villains' are.

_How the hell do I fight something like this?_ Toph wonders in frustration. She hasn't even had time to get acquainted with her support gear—

One second, she's in a group of students behind Thirteen as the echoing voice of a villain demands answers about All Might's absence.

The next second, she's falling.

Static rushes over.

Toph lands a short distance to the ground and promptly shrieks, because her fucking arm is on fire. The air is filled with dry heat and smoke, and Toph pats out the flames on her sleeve before she gets seriously burned.

"Beifong!" Tail Guy stops at her side, coughing. It was just the two of them in the Fire Zone. Them and bunch of villains. "Are you okay?"

"I'm—" Toph stops to pull up a wall of earth at the stranger charging them. Tail Guy takes down another with a swift knock, assuming a fighting stance.

No one thought much of the security incident a few days ago, but that hand villain planned all this nonsense, didn't he? The warp villain had brought them here. That strange beaked giant was different, and Toph was in over her head. Everything was happening so quickly, she could barely keep up.

She hasn't felt this way since Cato.

The air is smoky, so Toph takes a careful, calming breath. Seven villains in front of her, three more on Ojiro's side, and five behind them. She isn't injured. This isn't the Quirk Rumble. Aizawa wants them to run, but that's not an option anymore. There's really only one thing to do, and there's clarity in having one, simple goal.

And here she'd been jealous of 1-B's rescue training.

"I'm fine," she answers Tail Guy belatedly. "And I'm going to _kill the League of Villains_."

Toph stomps on the ground, and the earth explodes.


	20. Book 3: Avalanche - It's Fine Now

By the time she and Ojiro make it out of the Fire Zone, Toph is breathless and a little charred, but nothing more. It's actually concerning how little damage she took. Not to disparage Ojiro's skills, but even the tail guy could have taken care of all these villains with no back up. The villains that jumped them were untrained, and unprepared for teenagers that could fight back.

_I should be relieved,_ Toph muses. _They're just here to keep us out of the way._

Yet Toph doesn't feel relieved by this observation. In fact, it does nothing but stoke the flames of wrath blazing in her chest.

The Fire Zone has its own enclosure to prevent the flames from spreading out of control, and she earthbends a boulder to seal over the door. There's ventilation in the dome, so she doesn't concern herself with the villains trapped in rubble or unconscious inside.

"That was insane," Tail Guy gasps, taking deep breaths. "We'd better get to the exit…" He turns to run, but Toph is moving away. The USJ is large, but all of it is well within her range of sight. The students were scattered into different zones, but none had left the facility.

Ojiro stumbles, looking back at her. "Beifong-san, what are you _doing?_"

Toph hasn't forgotten what the villains in the plaza had been talking about. These tools think they can kill All Might, but the scrubs she just fought were nowhere near his level. The warp villain is dangerous, and the hand-covered kid seems like some sort of leader, but they aren't the _big guns_, are they?

"That thing in the plaza is here to kill All Might." Toph says sharply. "I won't let it."

"_What?_ How would you even know that?" Ojiro gapes at her. "You can't be… you can't _fight_ them, Beifong, this isn't a game, this isn't even training!"

"You should leave," Toph cracks her knuckles, and taps her fingers against the canisters that lay against her legs. It was a simple reel, admittedly, but that meant it wouldn't take long for Toph to adapt to using it. "I know what I'm doing."

There are some sights that can't be translated into Toph's sight by shapes and vibrations. Ojiro stares at the earthbender, transfixed by the spectacle of his classmate—she's a small girl, sometimes mistaken for shy or modest when her bangs hang over her face and she tilts her head low. But in this moment; in the split second he glances her way, Toph Beifong stands like a titan, like a force of nature indifferent to anything or anyone in her path.

Steel cables burst from the canisters at her hips, latching onto tall structures and pulling taut. Toph lets the cables tug her forward, hurling towards the plaza like a living avalanche before Ojiro can even lift a finger.

* * *

Izuku can't breathe._ Game over,_ the warp gate just said _game over, someone's alerting the teachers._ Eraserhead is facedown in a crater. _Game over, the villains are leaving_, but Izuku still can't _breathe_, can't believe they're really _done_. That decay man wanted to kill All Might. _It can't be this simple_. Eraserhead is in danger, he could be dying, this isn't simple at _all_.

"Oh, right." The decay villain, Shigaraki, speaks in a dry, lethargic tone. "Before we leave, let's smash some of _his_ pride…."

Izuku doesn't take his eyes off the villains, but suddenly the man is _there_, his gaze manic, his pale hand outstretched past Izuku. Not towards him. _Past_ his face. "...as the Symbol of Peace!" Shigaraki howls in glee.

He's looking at Tsuyu. He's putting his hand on Tsuyu's face. _Aizawa's arm cracked apart like broken glass._ She's dead. She's dying. _She's going to disintegrate._

Izuku isn't breathing. He isn't even _blinking_.

Tsuyu is still breathing.

"Damn it." The decay villain's tone reverts to that slow drawl. He turns his head to the side, hand drawing away. He had just been touching Tsuyu's face, but she's still here. "You really _are_ cool, Eraserhead."

Midoriya follows his gaze back to the Nomu and his teacher, whose bright red gaze is fixed, furiously, on the decay villain. The Nomu crushes his arm, and Aizawa screams—Izuku leaps from the water, feeling the rush of heat and power surge through his arm—"Let go of her!" He screams, and lets loose One For All. "_SMASH!_"

The shockwave is immense, a burst of wind that knocks back villains and makes the ground shudder.

Izuku looks down at his arm when he doesn't feel any pain._ I controlled it? I got a hit in?_

His rush of relief is smothered by the realization that the Nomu stands between him and Shigaraki. _No._ No, no, no. It's not even injured. There was no effect. Did he even use One For All?

Midoriya's mind is flying a mile a minute, trying to figure it out. So its quirk isn't strength, but shock absorption? Something like Fatgum? This makes no _sense_.

"._..Smash?_" Shigaraki repeats softly. His eyes are red, Midoriya is close enough to see that. The villain's gaze burns into him. "You there… are you a fan of _All Might?_"

Izuku barely registers the underlying rage in the villain's voice, hardly has time to blink—then the world erupts around him, dust flying everywhere and clouding over them. The decay villain lets out a grunt, and Izuku is blown backwards, a spray of water dousing him as he skids to a stop some distance from the villains.

Tsuyu and Mineta flop onto the ground beside him, bewildered but unharmed after being thrown from the shallow water. "What the fuck?!" Mineta wheezes, and Tsuyu scrambles to her feet, but Izuku—

Izuku is calm, because he realizes what must be happening. _Spirits, it better be her or I'm dead._ He seizes each of his classmates' arms and drags them farther from the plaza, his thoughts nothing more than a stream of pleas and promises to any and all earth-related spirits he knows of, because _if it's not her he's dead._

He shoves them forward, away from the villains, and when he turns around, the dust has cleared.

The decay villain brushes the dirt off his clothes, perplexed. Him and the Nomu weren't thrown by the explosion, because it wasn't directed at them. "Oh… another NPC?" He muses, looking around.

Izuku's eyes settle on the newcomer at the same time as the villain.

"Was that your attack, little girl?" The villain asks, amused. "You _missed_."

Toph Beifong stands not far from Izuku, her expression stormy. She says nothing at all, feet sliding against the concrete definitively. Midoriya recalls the footage from her fight with Iida, but it can't compare to what she looks like right now. The earthbender is the embodiment of her element, nothing but sharp edges and steely indifference. She takes up an unfamiliar fighting stance, something reminiscent of antiquated martial arts, looking right at home in the midst of chaos.

Beifong looks calm. Serene, even. So why does Izuku get the sickening feeling in his gut that she's on the warpath?

"Hah, aren't you poised," Shigaraki muses when she doesn't respond. The villain glances at the beaked monster, frozen in position from blocking Midoriya's punch. Beifong's arms shift, and Izuku can see the glint of steel from the support item on her hip. "A long-range attack… I didn't see you coming. That's _unfair_." The Nomu twists around towards Beifong.

There's another command in Shigaraki's last words, Midoriya realizes, because in the blink of an eye, the Nomu goes from standing over Shigaraki to making a lunge at Beifong.

"NO!" He finds himself screaming this time, finally regaining his voice, but it's still too late. The beast punches into the earth, throwing debris everywhere with a shockwave that makes Izuku squint his eyes. "_TOPH!_"

Silence.

The dust settles again.

The decay villain hums in amusement, and the Nomu pulls away, still as a statue with another command from Shigaraki. Izuku feels his heart jump into his throat—because he sees no blood, no smear of a teenage girl within the crater caused by the monster's fist.

"How…" The villain's voice goes up an octave, gritty with annoyance, "...how did you _dodge my Nomu?"_

Toph is panting, pale, and still in one piece, standing farther from Izuku now with her back to the front entrance. She stomps lightly on the ground, but Izuku sees no immediate effect. She flicks her wrist and a cable detaches itself from the side of a building, zipping back into the spool device on her belt.

"Granted, I didn't let him chase you," The villain admits. "_Toph_, is that your name?" She scowls. Shigaraki stares at her, wild-eyed. "Huh, I thought so. Hey, _Toph_, those reflexes are something else," he murmurs, working through what data he's seen. He did the same with Eraserhead before catching him between blinks to decay the hero's arm. "Almost like you moved before Nomu did. Was that just a lucky guess, _Toph?_"

_No,_ Midoriya thinks to himself. _She didn't move first, or that thing would've been able to follow her._ But she knew it would attack, and mid-jump, the Nomu couldn't change direction. Like Iida, when he made a charge at her—Toph had to wait for him to pick a direction before she could counter it. She wasn't this fast against Iida, but now she had those cables to magnify her speed.

That's her fighting style, waiting and listening before choosing the best moment to strike. Beifong must've been watching Aizawa fight for a while before she intervened, just like Izuku.

But why knock Izuku and his classmates away instead of attacking the villains?

"You've got a lot of anger, I can tell," Shigaraki says to Beifong lightly. Toph still refuses to speak, and it strikes Izuku at that moment that she _is_ angry right now. She's _so_ furious that she can't speak, can't taunt her opponent like he's seen her do plenty of times already in school. Shigaraki cocks his head to the side. "Don't hold back on me now."

The decay villain scratches his neck idly—and then he lunges at Beifong with no warning. Midoriya is able to follow his movement with his eyes this time, but knows he'd be in danger with Shigaraki's speed. Beifong is even faster, deflecting his forearm and shifting even closer to the staircase leading up to the entrance. Shigaraki is jerked around, unsteady as she oscillates between bending the concrete beneath his sneakers and deflecting him with her arms. Her footwork, usually slow and crisp, devolves into rapid shifts of weight and dragging heels.

Aizawa got it wrong in class. Toph _is_ fast enough. Izuku marvels at her, wondering what sort of training she's done to keep up with a villain like this. It's different, though, when the stakes are real. Izuku knows how it feels when your body moves before you have a chance to think.

The Nomu lumbers towards the decay villain, watchful. The creature doesn't attack, though. Midoriya stares at its back, trying to figure out why.

Shigaraki lets out a frustrated shout as his fourth swipe misses Beifong again, his feet sinking into the ground like quicksand. They both go still, the student stepping just out of the villain's reach. The villain looks down at his bare hand for a moment, flexing his pale fingers as if to check that they work.

"You can only keep blocking for so long, why don't you fight back?" Izuku figures out what Toph had seen earlier, just as Shigaraki confirms it. "Ha. You figured out that Nomu will take the hits for me."

Midoriya sags. The Nomu's head was bird-like, and it was constantly tilting its head, rolling its eyes to keep track of Shigaraki. Anything visible as an attack would be instantly blocked by the Nomu, _that's_ why Izuku's punch was stopped. The monster only stepped into the fight when Aizawa went after the decay villain, too. The Nomu had a few basic orders it was following, and it was commanded by Shigaraki alone.

Beifong probably couldn't move the Nomu, so she moved her classmates out of the way instead. Izuku _desperately_ wants to save her in return, but he can't do it without drawing the Nomu into the fight. Neither of them can match that thing's strength.

But _Aizawa_, he should get Aizawa out of the way! Beifong is drawing the villain further and further from the Shipwreck Zone. This is their _chance_—

As Izuku lifts himself up, Tsuyu seizes his arm. The look on her face is severe.

The Nomu might be docile now, but it follows the villain's every order. And there's still the warp villain in the plaza to worry about. Izuku relents. Not yet. He doesn't know how to get the jump on that black mist, but he's the next most dangerous player. Izuku feels so _useless_.

Shigaraki reaches down and disintegrates the concrete around his feet lazily, still focused on the earthbender. "….But that's not all Nomu is good for."

Midoriya can see Toph grow tense. If the order is specific enough, Izuku doubts she can evade the Nomu.

As if Shigaraki has the same thought as them, he speaks. "Pin her."

The resounding thud vibrates the ground as the beast slams down Beifong with one hand spread over her entire torso. Spikes of earth thrust upward violently, but they crumble against the Nomu, and Beifong gasps as the hand tightens over her chest. Mineta slaps a hand over Izuku's face, hissing a warning before he can scream.

Shigaraki looks over, directly at Midoriya, anyway. He seems to be smiling behind the hand over his face. "Did you _really_ think you'd be able to save your classmates? Your _teacher?_"

Izuku isn't sure if he's asking him or Toph, but he shouts anyway. "_Let her go!_"

The villain lets out a low chuckle. "You... you're the type I hate _most_. Why don't you make me stop, _Small Might?_" he taunts, knowing Izuku can't do a thing.

Beifong punches at the ground with a fist, angry but immobilized. It's a strange show of frustration from the otherwise silent girl. Beifong was rather stoic when she wanted to be, her control of her earthbending just as solid as her control over her emotions. Izuku's eyes flicker from Shigaraki to Beifong, an inkling of comprehension forming in his head.

Here and there during her fight, Beifong would shift her weight, add an extra stomp without releasing any attack. The only explanation is that she's waiting for something only she knows about.

_What's the range on her seismic sense?_

"Ho, you're still conscious," Shigaraki dips his head, eyes scanning over the girl. Her fingers dig into the edges of the Nomu's palm, straining with effort, and her body is sunken into a decent crater in the ground but she's yet to be crushed. "I expected you to pass out by now, make this easier. Hell of an earth quirk, eh?"

Izuku watches the beast lean forward incrementally, sees the snarl of concentration on his classmate's face. The pressure leaves no room for a reply. Beifong must be using her quirk in some capacity, but it won't protect her chest from caving in forever. Seeing her struggle, seeing that villain leer over her is _unbearable_ for Izuku.

"Frustrating, isn't it?" the young villain says mockingly. "You're _right there_, but you can't save each other." He's toying with them.

Toph exhales harshly, grimacing under the steady weight of the Nomu's hand. Her teeth are stained red. "'M not… trying t'save them," she wheezes out, and Shigaraki's attention is pulled back to her now that she's finally broken her silence.

"What?" The villain stares at her blankly. He crouches down to her level, scratching at his neck incessantly. "That's a strange attitude for a hero, little girl…"

Midoriya sees the vicious, bloody slash of Beifong's smile, clear as day. Normally, a smile like that was disconcerting, much like Kacchan's smirk. But here and now, it can only mean something good. To Izuku, it's almost as uplifting as All Might's grin. "I'm just… here to stall you… _bitch_."

Shigaraki cocks his head. "Wh—?"

_**BOOM!**_

All of them jerk their gazes up towards the entrance, where another mass of dust obscures the top of the staircase. A huge, familiar silhouette appears. "_It's fine now_," the voice rumbles. "_I am here._"

Shigaraki could have disintegrated Toph at any moment. She was totally pinned, Midoriya was too far away to stop him. But the villain's eyes are locked on All Might, and he gets to his feet as if in a trance. "I've been waiting, _hero_," he says, and his voice quavers with overwhelming anger. "You_ trash of society_."

* * *

All Might moves even faster than the Nomu. The low-level villains still milling around the grounds are promptly taken down. Izuku breathes in. There's a jerk on his body.

When he breathes out, he's standing on shaky legs beside Mineta and Tsuyu, but now Aizawa and Beifong lay in front of them, and the decay villain is on the other side of the plaza. Or rather, Midoriya had just been transported to the far side of the plaza. Toph struggles to stand, spitting blood. Eraserhead is motionless, though, and that scares Izuku even more.

"Toph-chan," Tsuyu lifts her by the arm, voice quivering. Beifong doesn't answer, but allows the frog girl to pull her up. All Might was quick enough to pull her out from the Nomu's grasp, but there's no telling the damage it's already done to her.

All Might addresses them while staring down the villain. "Everyone, get to the entrance. I'm leaving Aizawa to you, he's unconscious." Izuku stares up at his idol, relieved and horrified. He's so _strong_, Izuku wants to believe they're safe, but that thing, that _Nomu_…

Shigaraki is muttering hysterically to himself, pressing the disembodied hand back until it settles properly against his skin. Izuku already assumed he was unhinged, but that's a detail he won't forget.

"A-All Might, you _can't_," Izuku speaks up finally, pulling Aizawa over his shoulder. "That beaked villain, it took One Fo—it took a punch from _me_, but it didn't even twitch!"

"Young Midoriya!" All Might cuts him off, and Izuku bites his tongue. _"It's fine!_"

He peers at his hero's face, his fierce smile, and relents. Tsuyu takes Aizawa's other side, and the four students trudge towards the stairs. Izuku focuses on his task, feeling his broken fingers throbbing now, but he can't help but worry for All Might. They turn a corner, taking the safest path to the entrance, and he loses sight of the battle.

That Nomu was engineered to fight the Number One Hero. There was something _wrong_ about it… And Thirteen had given a signal to Eraserhead before the start of class. Izuku read the newsfeed this morning about All Might sightings.

All Might has already reached his time limit for the day.

_Everything is not fine._

And on the plaza below, All Might punches and punches but the Nomu won't go down. There's another explosion from the plaza, and they all pause. Mineta comments something light-hearted about All Might suplexing the monster.

Izuku can't see through the dust. "_Beifong_," he says quietly. She had been able to sense All Might before he'd even reached the gates of USJ. She must know what's going on in the plaza. He turns his eyes to her.

Toph's face is drained of color. "The _warp villain_."

Midoriya's heart leaps again. They hadn't done anything to subdue the warp villain, and All Might might not have even known about him. He peers at the expression on Beifong's face, the dread and fury solidifying into something resolute. She can't look him in the eye, but a silent agreement passes between the two students regardless, entwining them with purpose. It doesn't matter that Izuku can't feel two fingers on his hand, nor that Toph's steps are heavy and unsteady. The clarity of what they're going to do leaves Izuku breathless and determined.

"Asui, carry Aizawa." He shifts the teacher's weight onto the frog girl without waiting for an answer. Beifong is already sprinting when Midoriya takes off for the plaza.

* * *

"_Shock absorption_, Midoriya," Beifong picks up Izuku's train of thought, but her voice is strained and thin. Midoriya feels a tendril of worry coil in his gut, reminded that Beifong was injured by the Nomu. Her sleeve is burnt up too, with a nasty red patch of skin showing beneath it. "You were about to tell All Might it has shock absorption—and regeneration."

Midoriya's eyes flash. He'd been trying to come to terms with the Nomu's power since it was able to neutralize his punch, but he hadn't seen any sort of healing ability. "What—"

"You heard me," Toph shouts back roughly, wiping at her mouth as they run. "I pierced its skin but it sealed up in seconds."

"_M-multiple_ quirks?" He asks, bewildered. "Is that even _possible?_" Izuku considers himself close to an expert on quirk research, and there's never been such a case before.

Beifong's expression darkens. "It's possible." She says it like a fact.

He stares back, but there's no time to answer. All Might can't die here. There's so much he needs to teach him. The Symbol of Peace can't die today. Midoriya sprints towards the villains, seeing that All Might is being dragged into black mist, and reaches desperately for him.

* * *

Several things happen at once.

Toph throws out two cables at the hand guy.

Midoriya is nearly engulfed in that staticky-something as the warp villain draws himself up to block the student.

Bakugou bursts onto the plaza, firing at something directly in front of Midoriya that clangs to the floor—a metal collar.

The Nomu is frozen solid. She'd been wondering when Shouto would crop up. With his help, All Might breaks free of the beast's grip.

Kirishima aims for Shigaraki, but Toph flicked out her cables before him—the first cable snaps under the villain's hand, but her other cable lashes around him long enough for Kirishima to change course and punch Shigaraki directly in the face.

"Ha! Nice, Toph—_Uwah!_" Toph jerks her cable to coil over the student instead, and reels in Kirishima to her side before Shigaraki's fingers can make contact. "What the _heck?_ I had him!"

"He disintegrates people," she informs the energetic student in a clipped voice. God, he doesn't even have a shirt on.

"Oh_._ Thanks." If they weren't still facing villains, she would slap Kirishima in the face.

Bakugou cackles at the metal collar beneath his palm. "Just as I thought, only parts of you can turn into that warp gate!" He sets off a few warning explosions, threatening the staticky villain into remaining still. _So that's what the warp villain looks like._ Toph would never be able to pinpoint something in midair like that…

"Ah, look at this," Shigaraki murmurs, just loud enough for them to hear him. "Not only did you capture my companions, but you're all uninjured." His gaze sweeps across the assortment of heroes and villains. "Well, _mostly_ uninjured," he amends. "Kids these days..."

Midoriya huffs, clenching his left hand shakily. He broke two fingers before Toph made it to the plaza, and nearly shattered his arm against the Nomu. And Toph herself, well…

Kirishima makes a startled sound from her side, probably catching sight of the streak of red she wipes away from her mouth. It's only from biting her cheek, but it happened when the Nomu slammed her into the ground. Four of her ribs are either bruised or fractured from that hit too, and her arms are still tingling from the strain of keeping its hand from flattening her.

"Oho, All Might… you should have seen it," the villain continues thoughtfully, "Nomu was so close to _crushing_ that blind girl. And that plain-looking guy, what a _punch_, he really went all out, I could tell…"

Toph balks for a fraction of a moment. When had Shigaraki noticed she was _blind?_ He'd gotten pretty close to her face, but hasn't mentioned it until now. He talked about her reflexes, figured out she had an _earth quirk_, but chose not to taunt her about her disability?

"_Nomu_," Shigaraki says blandly, and Toph freezes. She has no idea what the villain could be commanding, but the Nomu is being pulled out of the warp gate. No, no, Toph can't _help_ if she doesn't _know what the command will be_. The creature staggers out of the gate, its right side shattering to pieces from Shouto's ice. It lurches over to stand in front of Shigaraki in muted, unfazed steps.

"Shit," Midoriya hisses, taking a step back.

"He's still _moving_ like that?" Shouto stares at the thing in horror, barely noticing when Midoriya takes his arm to pull him further from the beast.

The Nomu begins to regenerate.

"Shock absorption _wasn't_ his quirk?" All Might demands, straightening up. "_What is this?_"

"I didn't say that was his _only_ quirk," Shigaraki replies with malicious glee. "This is his super-regeneration. Nomu has been modified to take you at 100%."

_Modified._ Toph feels a chill go down her spine. She hears Shouto growl under his breath. Shigaraki said he was only here to kill All Might, but it wasn't true. Not really.

Because if they were experimenting with quirks, modifying powers and making human weapons—chances are, the League of Villains are connected to Amon's Vision.

* * *

The rest of the battle passes too quickly for Izuku to register. All Might is too fast for him to follow, and he gets glimpses every time him and the Nomu hit the ground, before they kick up another cloud of dust to conceal the fight. There's so much kickback from each punch All Might makes, it's all Izuku can do to stay on his feet. At some point Todoroki freezes himself to the ground, and Toph anchors herself and Kirishima, crouching beside Kacchan.

Kacchan, who'd nearly been obliterated by the Nomu before All Might intervened. Earlier, Toph had been able to dodge the Nomu coming after her, but only All Might had been fast enough this time to get the explosive boy out of the way.

Even if Izuku couldn't see it, even if she was still standing, Toph was _hurt_, wasn't she?

All Might blasts the creature right out of the facility and into the stratosphere. Midoriya stares at his back as the hero addresses the remaining villains.

"As expected, it seems there's no need for us to fight," Todoroki comments, pulling his feet free from the ground. Kirishima and Kacchan get to their feet too. Beifong follows, albeit slowly. "Toph, can you move?"

"Don't need _help_," she slaps his hand away stubbornly. "_Fuck off._" Izuku is still worried about the damage she took from the Nomu, but if she's well enough to curse out Todoroki, Toph will probably be fine.

"Midoriya, we should get out of here now!" Kirishima calls to him. "I don't want to slow down All Might."

"The other villains are approaching," Todoroki warns, moving to Kirishima's side. "We should focus on them," he advises, and his classmates begin to shift their attention to the opposite side of the plaza.

But Izuku can't bear to look away from All Might. The dust hasn't settled yet, but he can see _steam_ rising from the hero's skin. It's the same sort of steam that Izuku had seen the day he met the number one hero, and he was forced to revert to his true form.

_He's out of time._

Beifong hisses an acerbic string of curses as she stands. Behind Midoriya, villains that All Might and Eraserhead took out are beginning to stir. The students turn their eyes away from the pro hero, trusting his judgement to face the main villains, but Izuku can't follow their lead. _None_ of them know about All Might, they don't realize he's still in danger. Izuku can't _leave_ him like this. The other students move back, but Izuku steps towards All Might unconsciously.

Shigaraki is muttering loudly, agitated despite the warp gate trying to calm him. They're going to fight, they're going to_ attack All Might,_ Shigaraki and the black mist will kill him_—I have to fight—!_

"Midoriya, _no!_" Toph shouts.

Izuku is jerked back with a _snap_, and his legs buckle from the pain that follows. "_Gah!_" He gasps, staggering abruptly. He'd been about to leap towards All Might, but his legs are—_stuck?_ He can feel One For All's power subside, a rush of energy flushed down the drain prematurely, leaving him shaking. But he hadn't properly released the energy that would normally shatter his limbs, so—

Izuku sucks in a sharp breath to look at the student behind him. Toph didn't leave with the other students to take on the subordinate villains like he thought. Instead she's right there with him, glowering at Izuku, her fingers outstretched towards him.

"_Beifong_," he whispers in horror. Shigaraki attacks. The warp gate spreads his mist wide, preparing to overwhelm All Might. Izuku desperately reaches for One For All, but Beifong's grip is iron-like, even if he breaks free and shatters his legs he'll be too late— "No, no, _we can't let them—!_"

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Shigaraki's hand is deflected away from All Might just in time, blood spurting from new bullet holes.

Izuku freezes. Toph collapses to her knees, and the pressure over his legs all but disappears. The villain screeches in anger, and the warp villain drags him away through the mist.

_What?_

_Is it… over?_

"Sorry we're late!" The principal's voice carries over the building, light and self-assured. "I gathered all who were immediately available!"

_The teachers are here,_ Izuku thinks in relief. He looks up, back to All Might.

Oh. Oh, _shit_.

Shigaraki hadn't been able to decay All Might's body, but it looks like he managed to reach a bit of the hero's hair, because his signature bunny-ear locks were uneven. But more than that… All Might was half-shrunken now, steam coming off his skin in waves. There was still a decent amount of dust shrouding the plaza, and the other students had separated from Izuku to deal with the other villains.

But Toph sensed people through the vibrations in the ground. There's no way she could miss him.

All Might coughs into his hand. He looks at Izuku nervously, and then his eyes fall to Toph's bewildered face. "_Shit_," he says.

"_Shit_," Toph repeats right back, her voice thin and high.

"Toph? Midoriya?" Todoroki calls from across the plaza worriedly. Izuku freezes. Toph's face twists grimly. Todoroki is running towards All Might,_ he'll see—_

Suddenly the ground trembles, and a thick wall of concrete spring up between Todoroki and the rest of them. Midoriya's eyes land on Toph, but he hadn't seen her move at all.

"...Oi. What's this for?" Todoroki's voice is sharp and suspicious. "Beifong is injured over there."

"We need to make sure all the students are safe, so please tell the others to regroup at the front gate," Cementoss appears from the side of the impromptu wall. "We'll deal with the wounded here."

"Right," Todoroki agrees after a moment of deliberation. They can hear his footsteps lead away into the distance.

Izuku and All Might sigh in relief. Toph just looks shell-shocked.

"Thanks, Cementoss," All Might huffs, resting in a crouch. He's completely shrunken to his true form now, and with the blood stains over his face and body, he looks awful. "You really saved my skin there."

"Ah. I wish I'd gotten here sooner, though," Cementoss replies, turning to Midoriya and Beifong. "We should be careful getting you to the infirmary, to prevent any more… _surprises_."

Toph's face screws up in annoyance, and she takes a breath to argue—and then she coughs wetly, her breathing labored, and _oh my gosh there's blood still coming from her mouth—_

"Beifong!" Izuku squeaks, scrambling to kneel beside her. He grimaces at the strain it puts on his legs, but it feels like a bad sprain, not broken limbs._ She really was able to stop One For All in an instant, and without even practicing it first—!_ "Please don't move, we'll get you to Recovery Girl—" he reaches over to pull Toph up but she just slaps his hand away like she did to Todoroki.

"Fuck off, Midoriya. _You're_ the one with broken bones _again_," She scowls, shakily balancing on her feet as she accuses him.

Izuku huffs. "I-It's just my fingers, it's fine—!"

"Your right fibula is broken," the earthbender cuts him off quietly. Izuku freezes. "Your kneecap too, stop _kneeling on it—_"

"Young Midoriya?" All Might calls out to him in surprise. The hero's eyes land on Izuku's left hand, covered by his elbow pad to protect his shattered fingers. He sighs, turning to Toph. "Young Beifong, you may have internal injuries from that creature. Both of you need treatment."

"I bit my tongue," Toph snaps at the Number One Hero. Izuku might faint. She really has no respect for authority, not even All Might's authority. "There's no _internal bleeding_, all I did was crack my ribs."

"Th-that's not any better, Toph," Izuku points out, fretful, even as he eases out of his kneeling position (His leg doesn't _feel_ broken, not like in the entrance exam, but if Toph says so...). He's not sure she's being truthful about her injuries anyway, because he had no idea how her arm had gotten burned. And her tongue shouldn't _still_ be bleeding it that was really where the blood was coming from...

All Might looks pained when he looks at Beifong. "P-Please, let Recovery Girl treat you as soon as possible," he says, almost beseechingly. "I would rather not have to call your guardian if you're sent to the hospital."

Toph freezes, eyebrows raised. "Ah, yeah. You're probably right."

Izuku blinks, looking between All Might and Beifong in confusion. He has no idea what Toph's guardians would have to do with any of this. "Um? Are we…. Should we talk about…?"

"Later," All Might sighs. "Let's make sure all the students and faculty are safe first. Young Beifong, I must ask that you—"

"Spirits," Toph rolls her eyes. "Of course I won't say anything, I know how to keep a fucking secret."

All Might peers at her, and then at Midoriya for his opinion. Izuku gives the hero a long, thoughtful look before nodding. Toph is ultimately very rational and considerate, even if she doesn't always seem that way. It's not an ideal situation, but Izuku thinks they can trust her with this.

The hero concedes. "Alright then. Let's get to the nurse's office, shall we?"

The students nod, and they all begin to move towards the exit. Beifong glares at the ground and drags Izuku's arm over her shoulder, lessening the pressure on his right side.

"And, Young Beifong?" The earthbender pauses. All Might looks at her evenly. "I'm entrusting you with an immensely personal part of my life right now," he says seriously.

Toph takes slow, unsteady breaths as she absorbs this. "Yeah, well. It's about time, ain't it?" Izuku jolts at her cavalier tone, and has to bite his tongue avoid interrupting. Cementoss seems equally disturbed, shooting the girl a reprimanding look (that she definitely doesn't notice).

"Oh?" All Might murmurs, nonplussed.

"This means you're going to have to retire soon, right?" Toph continues softly. "So it's about time you start trusting your life to us future heroes."

Izuku stares, struck dumb by the wholehearted confidence in the way Toph speaks. Suddenly, All Might bursts into deep, bellowing laughter that echoes through the entire building. Toph startles, bumping into Midoriya with a sour look.

"Such drive! I look forward to seeing the heroes you two will become!"

Izuku feels his heart clench at All Might's words, indescribably happy that the hero is okay. Tears collect in his eyes but he beams at All Might anyway. Toph just ducks her head, clicking her tongue.

* * *

Soon, Midoriya and Beifong are split up from Cementoss and All Might, and ushered to the infirmary on one of the motorized carts used to move between UA buildings. Izuku feels tears dripping from his face all the while, but really, he can't help but cry. They pass by an ambulance taking Thirteen and Eraserhead to the hospital, and an assortment of police cars and officers spreading around the USJ.

Izuku sighs, leaning back in his seat and finally wiping at his eyes. He hears a quiet gasp from his side, and turns to check on Beifong. She looks unchanged, her mouth still set in a scowl and her bangs hanging heavily over her face. Toph hasn't shown many signs of pain, not even after being pinned down by the Nomu, so it's hard to Izuku to tell if she's in trouble or not.

"Toph," he says tentatively. "Are you okay?"

The earthbender lifts her head with a bitter sort of smile. "Are _any of us_ okay?" she asks.

She's crying. She still looks poised and strong, so untouchably self-assured, but she's crying, and makes no attempt to hide it. Toph just sits there, back straight, chin high, but shaking ever so slightly like she's unable to stop it.

Izuku doesn't reply, because the answer is obvious. None of them are okay.

* * *

In the nurse's office, hours later, All Might tells Toph Beifong about his injury.

"I sustained a pretty major wound about six years ago, and lost some internal organs. Since then, my time in my hero form has diminished. I think I've lost more time with today's fight, so I can probably maintain my form for about an hour each day now."

Toph listens from her bed next to All Might's, Midoriya sitting in a chair between them with a cast over his hand and his right leg wrapped up tight with bandages. He's essentially been healed at this point, but the hero has let him stay to listen.

"...As for Midoriya," All Might continues hesitantly. The nurse's office is pretty quiet, save for the hum of electronics and the slow drip of IVs. It's not hard to hear his heartbeat in this setting, fluttering and nervous and unmistakable. "I'm sure you're wondering why Young Midoriya knows already… w-well, you _see_, he happened to find out—"

"Wait, wait, stop," Toph holds up a hand quickly before All Might can speak. He grunts in surprise, not used to being cut off. Midoriya makes a little noise of dissent too, and Toph clicks her tongue. "Sorry, but I really, _really_ need to say this first."

The two of them waited for her to continue with bated breath. Toph rubs her temple.

"You're both _shit_ liars, oh my _god_."

Midoriya squeaks. All Might's heart rate skyrockets. "I—I beg your pardon?"

Toph exhales a long-suffering sigh, and tilts her head towards her classmate. "Haven't I told you before, Midoriya? _You're going to think yourself into a heart attack_."

He stares at her, stupefied by her words for a long moment. Then Midoriya makes a strangled noise of shock as the pieces click into place. "All Might, _Beifong can hear our heartbeats,_" he says hollowly. "Oh wow, that's _phenomenal_. I should have guessed it sooner. Oh my god. _That's_ why you're always telling me to stop worrying, you can _tell that I'm actually worrying—_"

"Heartbeats, uneven breathing, fidgeting with your hands," Toph tallies off each tell. "I hear your voice all the time, Sensei, I can hear it when you sound off."

"I… see," All Might said weakly.

"You haven't straight up lied, but you're not telling me everything," she folds her arms. "And… I think I've heard enough now, don't you think?"

"Huh?" Midoriya whips his head around to look at her. "You're really not _curious_—?"

"It sounds serious as fuck," Toph cuts him off firmly. "So I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's safer if you don't try to feed me some watered-down version I won't believe, and just keep me out of it entirely." She pauses for a beat. She doesn't strictly have to tell him the rest, but the things Shigaraki said today were nagging at her. It might be a coincidence, but if it wasn't, she ought to warn them…

"All Might. I'm still a target for an active villain group," Toph says in a rush, taking both the hero and student off-guard. "I don't expect to be attacked or anything, but the last thing you need is for any villains to find out you have a weakness. I'm just a student. I should stay unconnected to all this if I can."

Endeavor made the choice a while ago to keep her, Shouto, and Inasa up to date on the AV case. While there haven't been any attempts on the students since Cato Hospital, the group is active, and whatever tests and DNA samples taken from her and Inasa during their abduction were still being floated around the confusing dark web that Amon's Vision was hiding in. AV was involved in practically every illegal human experimentation and trafficking ring in the country.

"_What?!_" The number one hero asks, aghast. "What villain group? _Why isn't that in your file—?_" All Might wheezes, coughing into his hand. "Shit! _Endeavor's_ leading the case, isn't he? Of course he wouldn't warn the school about active investigations! _Honestly,_ that man...!"

Toph gives a tentative nod, cringing at the metallic smell of blood. "I can't actually talk about it unless you're brought into the case," she admits sheepishly. "But I think you will be."

"_Christ_," All Might gripes, "He had you sign an _NDA?_ That's barely legal, with him being your guardian…"

"Well—"

"Huh?! T-T-Toph's g-g-guardian is _Endeavor?!_" Midoriya stammers, clutching at his heart. Toph rolls her eyes for the nth time today. "Toph, what? _Was I supposed to know that?_ I didn't know that!"

"Midoriya, we just faced a bunch of villains trying to kill us in the middle of school," she says dryly. "Why is _this_ more surprising to you?"

"Don't turn it around on me! You're too calm about _all of this,_" Midoriya moans. "A target for villains? Endeavor's your_ dad?_ You're not even that shocked about All Might's secret!"

The earthbender grumbles, picking at a scab on her neck. She'd rather Midoriya not point it out, but the truth is, Toph feels like she's hanging on to her composure by a thread. Wasn't it embarrassing enough that she had kind of cried in front of him on the way to the infirmary? Toph could only handle so much emotion in one day.

"I'm too tired to get worked up about it," is what Toph ends up saying, though. The day's nearly over, she can hold it in for a while longer. "Also, Endeavor's _not_ my dad. Don't call him that."

"Hang on," All Might intervenes, "About Endeavor's case, why do you think I'll be let in on the investigation? Endeavor works alone."

Ooh. Ain't that a touchy subject? She gives the hero an approximation of a smile. "No offense All Might, but that really just applies to _you_."

"Ah."

Endeavor, for the most part, _does_ work alone, but Toph knows there's been cooperation between Endeavor and a couple of underground heroes for the AV case. "But I was thinking that because of the Nomu. It had multiple quirks. The villains said it was _modified_ to fight you."

"Yes," All Might agrees, growing tense. "And, Endeavor's case…?"

"...Similar group." She says curtly. "Shigaraki could be connected to them." Then Toph snorts. "That's already more than I should say, but what's Endeavor gonna do about it? You're the number one hero."

All Might chuckles, the sound deep and raspy from his throat. "Goodness, I suppose I won't ask anything else then. I'd hate to get you into trouble with your dad."

"_Guardian_," Toph corrects him tartly. "Seriously, drop the 'dad' thing, you don't get how weird it is."

"My mistake," the hero chuckles again. It sounds like he's teasing her, but Toph can't find it in herself to argue any further with All Might. It'll be his funeral when he says it to Todoroki-san's face, and the Flame Hero _erupts_.

Then the door slides open. "Excuse me," a stranger walks in. Toph flinches, caught off-guard because her feet were hanging off the cot. "All Might, it's been a while," the man continues genially.

"Tsukauchi-kun, you're here too?" All Might wheezes again, wiping the blood off his lips. Toph's brow furrows in worry. It was one thing to stay vigilant over her idiotic classmate breaking his bones, but now she knew All Might had the constitution of a wet napkin…

"A-All Might, is it ok for him to see this form?!" Midoriya whispers loudly.

"It's okay! _Why, you ask?_" All Might's voice turns almost lyrical, repeating the familiar melody of his catchphrase. It sounds both exactly the same and totally wrong, coming from the weakened form of the number one hero. "Because he's Naomasa Tsukauchi, my best friend in the force."

"What's with that introduction, eh?" Tsukauchi chuckles. "There's a lot we should discuss, but ah—we should move you to a separate room, All Might. Endeavor's trying to get on campus to see his, um, daughter?" He pauses. "I assume that's you, Toph Beifong?"

"I guess." Toph makes a vaguely disgusted face. She's never going to call Endeavor 'Dad'. Don't get her wrong, Toph genuinely loves the Todorokis. She respects Endeavor a lot. And technically, she is Enji's adopted daughter. But it feels so _unnatural_ to call herself a part of their family. It's hard to explain why, but it's just how things are, and Shouto and his siblings seem to feel the same way. Natsuo said it best, some months ago, when he promised that he loved Toph like a sister but hated the idea that his eldest sibling was being replaced by her.

Some things are best left unknown. Like the details of All Might's quirk. Like the actual extent of _Inasa's_ quirk. Like whether or not Touya Todoroki is also_ Touya—_

Toph turns to All Might calmly. "I don't suppose you want to surprise Endeavor today?"

"Ah, no, best if we don't!" All Might gives a gentle laugh. "I'll get out of your hair—"

"Nah," Toph slides off her cot before All Might can get to his feet. "Why bother when I can go to him? I'm tired of lazing around in bed."

"Young Beifong," the hero protests sternly, "It's not being lazy. Recovery Girl healed your ribs, but you should really be on bed rest for the rest of the day."

"And I'll do that at home, on my own bed," Toph insists, silently hoping that All Might stays put. She just wants this day to be over. "I have to give a report to the police anyway, right? I'll find an officer outside to talk with."

"But—Young Beifong—" All Might almost sounds plaintive. "Don't worry about me. I can certainly move instead—"

"All Might," Tsukauchi laughs, patting his shoulder. "Ms. Beifong has a point. Why don't I escort you to the gate, and you can give me your report on the way?"

"Lead the way," Toph waves a lazy hand at him. She doesn't bother saying goodbye to Midoriya or All Might, but strolls out of the nurse's office like she would any other day. Tsukauchi takes her cue, pulling out a notepad and telling her to start from the moment they reached the USJ.

* * *

When Toph finally slides into the backseat of the luxury car, next to Shouto, it's nearly the end of the school day.

"Are you okay, Beifong?" Endeavor asks gruffly from the passenger seat. They have a driver today, so she doesn't have to worry about Todoroki-san's driving from hell.

Toph takes a deep, slow breath, sinking into the cool leather seat. "What do _you_ think?"

* * *

_A/N: __Whew, there's a lot in this chapter! We pretty much went through the whole USJ arc. I forgot how much there would be to cover, haha! We're not even close to finishing the story arc for 'Book Three: Avalanche', but I'm so exhausted after trying to make sense of this behemoth chapter! _

_Sorry it's all Toph and Midoriya this time around, we'll check back in with other characters in the next chapter!_

_Small edits have been made to this chapter, just to clarify this point, but—Toph did use her quirk and stopped Midoriya from breaking his legs trying to defend All Might. In canon, he shatters both his legs again, and in this version, he only breaks a fibula and a patella. It certainly hurts, but Midoriya assumes he's sprained a muscle because the pain isn't as bad. _


	21. Book 3: Avalanche - New Summits

Beifong shuffles into the house with her head hanging low, arms curled inward and wrapped in bandages. She admits to no discomfort, though he doubts she's fully healed because Recovery Girl tends to leave patients to recuperate naturally when she can. Ribs fractures, both wrists sprained, and a litany of bruises over the rest of her. Something about the tenor of Beifong's voice and the solemn gaze of his son suggests that the villain attack on their high school shook them both to the core, even though no one but the teachers were critically injured.

The two first years have already been through more harrowing situations than most teenagers their age, so the thought that this incident has them so thoroughly troubled isn't something Enji can just brush aside. Shouto trails after Toph like a shadow at her elbow, not touching but close enough that it makes no difference.

"I'm starving," the earthbender announces loudly as she peels off her shoes. "The last thing I ate were Recovery Girl's gummy candies."

Enji remembers those things. He hated them, the synthetic flavors never sat right with him. "There's onigiri in the fridge."

Toph's face twists in dismay as she ducks towards the kitchen. Not because there's food, but because she probably knows that _Fuyumi's_ the only one that would make something like rice balls and she only cooked when she was worried. Enji's daughter is a strange combination of high-strung energy and earnest sensitivity, and the more he learns about her, the less he understands Fuyumi.

"Where's Fuyumi and Natsuo?" Shouto asks, raising his eyes to his father. "I thought they'd be home."

"Natsuo took Fuyumi out for dinner with his friends. They'll be back soon." He pauses, but not for very long. Enji's not a terribly patient man and this cannot be postponed. "Can we talk about the attack?" He asks, following Beifong into the kitchen. She's already piling rice balls onto a plate that is far too small for them. She compensates by holding an onigiri in her mouth.

"Don't act like it's a request," Shouto answers testily, sliding into the chair beside Toph. He doesn't even try to hide his concern, glancing at the earthbender openly as she settles in to eat. "I already told you _my_ side of things," he adds pointedly.

Enji wants to assume Beifong is fine, with her acting so normal, but by her own admission she was not fine. Looking at her now, he can't actually _see_ a problem, and that's even more troublesome. His own children weren't hard to read when they were upset, each of them acting out in different, noticeable ways. Shouto mouthed off too much; Natsuo raised his voice and knocked things over; Fuyumi curled inward and busied herself with making onigiri.

But Beifong? Unless she was at the point of actively crying, she has a very good poker face.

That being said, Toph was downright inscrutable right now. "You were seriously injured, Beifong. What happened?"

The girl chews her food thoroughly, giving herself time to think. "Can't you just read the police report?"

"_No_," Enji says shortly. "I'm asking you, right now."

"Fine," She murmurs blandly. "Villains entered USJ through a teleportation quirk. A lot of villains, maybe a hundred…"

Her story starts out the same as Shouto's, but when they reach her fight with the Nomu creature—Toph falls short. She gives them a report than matches up with what Shouto could tell Enji, but leaves them asking too many questions and receiving too few answers. The Nomu had already subdued Eraserhead, but Beifong chose to provoke the villain leader. The villain leader had her _pinned down_, spoke directly to her and knew her by _name_ because of her intervention. All Might arrived on scene, yet she _disobeyed the Number One Hero_ to return to the plaza.

"You weren't thinking at _all_, were you?" Enji stares at the mutinous girl. "_None_ of you were authorized to attack—and _yes_, I'd still count your actions as attacks, but you're lucky the heroes on site didn't. Haven't you learned your lesson by now?"

Beifong doesn't answer, merely eats her food in stiff and furious silence. Shouto still doesn't know the details of her tangle with Stendhal and the Quirk Rumble, but maybe he should air out that issue to properly tell off this idiot girl...

"What happened with Midoriya, near the end?" Shouto asks, his mismatched eyes zeroing in on Beifong with an intensity Enji doesn't miss. "I still don't understand why Cementoss screened off you two with All Might."

Enji frowns. To his knowledge, the fight had ended with the arrival of the rest of the teachers, so he doesn't see why Cementoss would have to intervene at that point in the plaza.

Toph raises her head, and there's a distinctly uncomfortable, almost nauseous look on her face for a second. "That's my fault," she clicks her tongue and something shifts in her demeanor from worried to ashamed. "I used my quirk on Midoriya."

Shouto immediately freezes at her words, but Enji doesn't understand. "You… _attacked_ a classmate?" He says dubiously. Surely he's missing something here.

"No," his son corrects him, "She _earthbended _Midoriya. Earlier, the two of them discussed the possibility of Toph being able to manipulate _bones_ with her quirk. You actually _did_ it?"

Toph picks at the rice on her fingers, distracting herself. "Yeah."

Shouto looks at her, bewilderment clear on his face. "And he was injured in the process, so Cementoss had to deal with both of your injuries—but _why_ would you—?"

"_He_ was going to attack the villains with that janky quirk of his," Toph snaps, and it's like the ice around her is thawing too quickly, poker face melting away into frustration. "He's not _fast_ enough for that to work, he would've been killed or left _crippled_—I kept him in place, but either my grip was too tight or he fought it too much, because he—it—I snapped his fibula. And his right patella." She makes an odd, breathy sound, something not quite a sob, and ducks behind her bangs. "Fuck, I feel _awful_."

She digs her nails into the wooden edge of the table, and it's impossible to ignore the distraught look on her face or the furious edge to her tone. Enji hasn't seen her so affected since the Izumis passed away.

And all over what, a _boy?_

"...I see," Enji says, but he really doesn't. But Beifong is a teenage girl now, so there's probably a lot he's not going to understand. _Kami_, this better not be a crush situation. Natsuo gives him enough headaches about that business major girl he's courting.

"Toph…" Shouto looks at her, equally surprised by her miserable expression. "Midoriya doesn't blame you. _He_ gave you the idea in the first place. You have nothing to feel guilty about."

Her face twists in dismay. "I don't—no, I guess you're right—" Toph scrubs a hand over her face, a complicated array of emotions playing out over her features before she settles down. "Don't worry about me," she sighs quietly. "It's just a lot to process. And, uh, using my quirk on Midoriya took a lot out of me."

If the school wasn't going to raise any questions about Toph's actions against another student, Enji didn't see why he should. Beifong clearly cares about her classmate anyway, and the more pressing concern is what the hell Shouto means by _earthbending Midoriya's bones_. How was that even possible?

"Using earthbending on a person…" Enji thinks hard for a moment, recalling what he already knew of the girl's quirk. Earthbending had always seemed like a straightforward power to Enji until he met Toph Beifong. "Your quirk has evolved," he says thoughtfully, peering at the unassuming teenager.

"...Evolved?" Toph repeats skeptically, slumping back in her chair. "That's not how quirks work," she rolls her eyes. "I'm just using it differently."

Enji steeples his fingers together, catching Shouto's eye for a moment before returning his gaze to the table. "Maybe that isn't the right word. But what you _do_ isn't just moving rocks. It's _never_ been just that."

Seismic sense. Metalbending. _Bonebending_. Her quirk wasn't strictly limited to earth… that had always been the distinction made between quirks and bending, in the early days of quirk history, when people began to rehash old legends and scriptures about the Avatar.

A bender's ability, in theory, was _expansive_, and ran deeper than the rigid rules that most quirks had to abide by. It's why elemental powers tended to be stronger; it was easy to build upon, and their simplicity paved the way to versatility. That's what made them so enviable, and at the very least, Enji had witnessed that sort of jealousy from countless people over the years, even from those with dreadfully fierce quirks of their own. Hell, even that Red Spirit, asshole informant that he was, waxed poetic about the dangerous implications of third- and fourth-generation quirked people developing elemental quirks. The newer generations of quirked people possessed more and more complex abilities, building from favorable components of a person's genetic makeup.

An elemental quirk from a first generation user wasn't nearly as complex and powerful as a third generation elemental quirk, like Enji's Hellflame. That being said, it was even more dangerous when you considered how three or four third-generation quirks would interact with each other if grafted into a single host—

Kami save him. He's been reading so many damn Avatar-cult publications that it's become a constant tangent to his thoughts. He'd already been familiar with this theory well before meeting Beifong, after all. Enji rubs a hand down his face, scratching at the stubble over his chin.

"Todoroki-san, what are you talking about?" Toph interrupts his tired mind, quirking an eyebrow at him. "What about my quirk?"

"Nevermind," Enji dismisses the idea. No need to get into quirk theory with this one, too. His own children had learned enough.

In fact, they're never had a serious discussion about Beifong's quirk before. Enji used to go over Shouto's ability with a fine-toothed comb, but it's been years since he tried to really pick apart what Shouto was and was not capable of. It's not something they need to talk about here, after the events of today, but…

He was their age when his real training began at UA, and if they were as serious as he was about being heroes, they could handle it if he pushed them. He'd talk to Shouto about using Flashfire, and sit Beifong down to explain what he knew about her element… after seeing them compete in the Sports Festival he'd have a better idea of how to broach the subject. He could already imagine how Shouto would take it. Talking with his sons was still a work in progress.

Enji glances at his phone for the time. He didn't have to patrol until tonight, but he'd spent so much time loitering around that damn school today, he ought to get to his agency early and make up for lost time. Plus, there was a meeting he had to make it to. "Detective Tsukauchi said you're on bed rest for today, Beifong." His eyes slide over to his youngest, imploring him to look after the little menace. "Please?" Is all that he says to the boy.

Shouto arches a single brow at Enji, amused. "Okay."

It's strange to think about, but he and Shouto wouldn't get along half as well as they do now if it weren't for Beifong and all the grief she gives them.

Toph pouts, curling over with crossed arms and narrowed green eyes, realizing that the Todorokis are ganging up on her. "I'm not _tired_. We didn't even get to train in class today—"

"You literally got slammed into the ground by an eight-foot-tall bird monster today," his son shoots her down. "Don't you know when to stop?"

"I'm healed, don't nag me." Toph's bottom lip juts out further, a perfect picture of moue. "I don't think I could rest even if I wanted to right now."

Enji checks the time again. "Beifong, _you're on bedrest._ That's an order. I have to go."

Her expression shifts to something like confusion, just missing the threshold for disappointment. "Go _where?_"

Shouto catches on faster. "You still have work today?"

"There's always more work," Enji grumbles, standing up from the table. "Shouto, don't let—"

"I won't let her train," his youngest finishes the sentence for him, and if Enji's not mistaken, there's something like a gleam of sharp mirth in his mismatched eyes. Of course there is. There's nothing like watching your father drown in his own hypocrisy.

"You're not allowed to train today either," He adds. A decade ago, Enji would never imagine he'd be checking in with his strongest son, asking him to take it easy, but this isn't even the first time he's restricted their training time.

Shouto had resisted Enji's teaching from very early on. It took a long time for Enji to understand why, but he learned to stop pushing, and Shouto thrived because of it.

Toph, on the other hand…. Toph didn't know when to stop. The Izumis had talked to him at length about the matter, while they were still alive and Toph was pushing every boundary they tried to set. There was a fire in her that Enji, at times, thought that _Shouto_ could learn from. But it was a fire that blazed too hot, too quick, and the Izumis were the first to see it and the first ones to douse it. He would be doing them a disservice if he were to reverse that teaching.

"I'll be back tomorrow." Enji informs them, pocketing his phone.

Beifong gives a low whistle. "Late night patrol?"

"Late night meeting," Enji corrects. He hates the underground network. They took their title too literally. He's even had to check in with his contacts in actual sewers before, because spirits forbid they ever meet up at a normal time or place. "Natsu and Yumi will be back soon. Don't cause them any trouble, they're already upset about the attack."

"Yeah, yeah, we _got_ it," the girl answers flatly.

He tugs his coat back on and casts one more sweeping gaze over the two youngest members of the household. Toph is half-laying over the kitchen table, a sure sign that she is exhausted despite how insistently she tries to deny it. Shouto stands in the doorway, his gaze lowered to the collection of shoes cluttering the entryway and his arms folded loosely over his chest.

They were fine. Or at least, they were resilient kids, and they would get over it.

And yet Enji is anchored to the spot, his gaze lingering over the two of them. If it weren't for the weight of his work phone in his pocket, a solid reminder of his responsibilities for the day, Enji thinks he'd rather plant himself right where he is; sprout roots into the ground, grow branches long enough to fence them in. Then, at least for a short while, they wouldn't be in any trouble.

Shouto eventually lifts his gaze to Enji, noticing that he's dawdling in the mudroom, and Enji wants to say something. He doesn't know what. But _something_.

Then his phone buzzes sharply with a call, and Enji breaks their staring contest to look at it. "I have to take this," he murmurs, ducking out the door and answering the call in one smooth motion.

* * *

"Is he mad?" Toph eventually breaks the silence lingering between them. Shouto looks back at her, still with her head resting on the table and bits of rice stuck to her fingers. Her voice isn't timid or concerned, but _small_, and Shouto feels much the same way.

He sucks in a deep breath, leaning against the countertop. "No. It might be something at the agency that's bothering him." Shouto wasn't all that skilled in picking apart his father's moods, solely because the Flame Hero wore his emotions on his sleeve. He's as straightforward as they come. "He was pretty upset when he first got to UA."

Toph blows a raspberry, only pulling herself up enough to rest her chin in her hands. "_Worrywort_."

"...Yeah," Shouto agrees, surprising himself. "I guess he is these days, isn't he?" His eyes narrow at Toph. "Because _you_ get into so much trouble."

She makes an offended sound, flipping him the bird. "It's not all on me. He was all pissed last weekend because he watched your footage from the mock battles—"

Shouto gives her a sharp look. "He _watched my footage?_ Damn old man, he's so _nosy_—"

"—then he kept requesting soba and soups from the kitchen staff, because he thought you dehydrated yourself using so much ice," Toph continues pointedly, raising her eyebrows.

Shouto's response dies in his throat. He _did_ eat soba for three days straight after the mock battles, but he was never one to question the appearance of more noodles. Granted, he preferred cold soba and all they had was hot soba in broth, but he didn't think his _father_ had anything to do with it.

"Hm."

Toph shrugs. "I'm just saying it's not _all_ my fault. Plus, remember when Fuyumi went on a date and he threatened to use his police connections to stalk the guy?"

Shouto's eyes narrow once more, recalling that day differently. "Fuyumi said she went out with _friends_."

Toph cups her mouth, and speaks in a loud whisper. "It was a _date_, you dunderhead." As Shouto balks, trying to reconcile the thought of his sister dating someone, and Toph finally drags herself to her feet. "Y'think we have class tomorrow?"

"No, they already announced our day off. Hey, about Fuyumi's date—?"

"Cool, I'll go hiking." Toph decides bluntly. "I've been meaning to hang out with Shinsou, maybe he'll come with me…"

Shouto stares after her. "Toph… Toph. Does Fuyumi have a boyfriend—"

"—he's kind of a wimp, but I'm bored of the bike trail—" Toph turns a corner, waving a hand dismissively at Shouto. "G'night dummy."

Shouto sighs loudly, hoping Toph hears it and knows it's her fault he's going to worry about Fuyumi—who is shorter than even Toph, who is sweet and built for kind smiles—dating some unknown guy without letting the rest of the family even know his name. "Good night, Toph."

* * *

Enji peers at the dancing flames etched across his partner's eerie face. Or what _passes_ as a face, in Takayama's case. Ryouichi Takayama, who barely passes for a _partner_ in this damn case, is an insufferable underground hero that goes by the moniker _Looking Glass._ The only thing that keeps Takayama from being mistaken for a frail office worker is the silvery, reflective pantyhose mask he wears, turning his head into a lumpy round mirror attached to his shoulders.

Glass skims through a newly-released report regarding the UA attack. Enji read it earlier in the evening, before Glass deigned to show up to their rendezvous point, so he's stuck hovering impatiently over the underground asshole, waiting for the man's verdict. Endeavor keeps his flames low in the dim light, to not draw attention to the pair of them while they discuss the case, but the light is still captured in the warped reflection of Looking Glass's mask. They were beneath a fishing pier like a couple of drug dealers, and it smelled terrible.

"You made the news today," Glass says out of the blue. It's impossible to tell what the man is looking at, much less the expression on his hidden face, but Enji can hear the inquisitive note in his raspy, smoker's-lung voice.

"I always make the news," Endeavor points out.

"You made the news for _this_ attack," Looking Glass clarifies mildly, flipping a page. "And you didn't even _fight_ in it. That's pretty unusual for the Flame Hero."

Enji pulls his gaze away from the underground hero, as if that would be enough to stop the asshole from reading his expression like a book. He did make the news this evening. More specifically, his picture was scattered across the gossip channels like seeds tossed in a park, destined to be picked apart. UA generally handled the media very well in order to protect the privacy of its students, but an attack like this one meant media coverage—All Might's involvement was noticeable enough, but then Enji had arrived that afternoon and, well…

In particular, there was a very telling photo of Endeavor ushering Shouto and Toph into a black limousine, one hand on each of their shoulders. His flames were subdued enough for the discerning eye to see the complicated and tender expression on his face, looking over the pair of first years. Shouto seemed the most composed, his face turned to speak to Enji, but Toph is visibly shaken in the photo, pale and closed-off. Enji doesn't think she realized it at the time, but she had leaned back into his side like a cat seeking warmth.

Or, as the anchor on Channel 7 put it, like a daughter seeking her father's protection. It's all a pile of horse shit, but that's what people _wanted_ to see, wasn't it?

"So, how much of this has to do with AV," Glass inquires, "And how much of it has to do with the _unnamed geokinesis student_ that keeps popping up in this report?" Enji glowers silently at the man. "She seems like a recent addition, did the mother come knocking at your mansion for compensation—?"

"Glass," Endeavor cuts in frostily. "When did you start believing everything those gossip rags spout?" He waits a beat, letting himself seethe for just a moment, blazing internally but putting out the wildfire before it spreads out of control. Everyone is well aware that Endeavor keeps his personal life far away from the press, but Takayama is the only one that seems to think this is an _unreasonable_ practice—he pries at Enji's life like a hungry beast, sniffing out scraps better than any journalist has managed.

It's just part of Looking Glass's nature, as one of the top interrogators in the country up there with Tsukauchi in the force and _Dream-Catch_ with the Hero Commission, to stick his nose where it doesn't belong. And it's because LG is such an accomplished detective that Enji bothers tolerating such blatantly unprofessional invasions of privacy.

_Doesn't mean I owe him any answers_, Enji thinks rebelliously. Glass could theorize all he wanted about Beifong. He'll get closer to the truth than the paparazzi, but he won't know. Toph's records were sealed. Her tips were anonymous. Few people knew what she went through before cropping up at UA as some mystery offspring.

Enji cared very little about it. This wouldn't be the first time rumors surfaced about Endeavor having an extramarital affair or love child.

One of his newer sidekicks, _Burnin'_, was rumored to be a relative when she first joined the agency. Hell, Miyuki Izumi of the Water Hose Duo was briefly gossiped as his secret lover after she was spotted leaving his office. Beifong may not enjoy it, and Endeavor thought it disrespectful for others to insinuate it, but rumors about her being his bastard daughter were both numerous and ultimately harmless.

"You're reading this report because of the _Nomu's_ description, as given by All Might's testimonial. It fits with the forensics from Sendai, doesn't it?" Enji asks at last, steering them back to work.

Looking Glass hums vaguely, cocking his head to the side. "Ain't that dandy. So this League of Villains is probably working with the doctor we're after." He thumbs the page, humming some more. "I have news from the wonder twins, too."

A small hard drive is tossed to Enji, and he catches it with a frown. "The fuck is this?"

"Uh," Looking Glass tilts his head judgmentally. "I know you're getting _up there_, but surely you know what a USB stick is. If not, go ask one of your little sidekicks to help—"

"I mean, why don't you have any hard copies? Does it look like I carry a laptop in my utility belt?"

Glass huffs. "Was that a joke?"

"What's on the drive, Glass?" Enji deadpans.

The underground hero raises his hands in defeat. "Just some intel from the boys in Miyagi. Photos, mostly. Send 'em back to the fuzz in Sendai, there should be enough evidence to get warrants to enter a couple of hidey-holes in the mountains."

"The _boys_," Endeavor repeats dryly, placing the USB in his belt anyway. "You sure you're not getting too chummy with those illegals?"

"Aw, Endeavor, you know they're only illegal if you can pin a crime on them," Glass sounds like he's pouting under his mask, arms spread wide as if that'll make Enji trust him more. "Plus, they're more useful that you'd think. I'd reckon those two have beef with AV, just like you."

Enji gives Looking Glass an unimpressed look. "How soon can they get back to Tokyo?"

Glass tilts his head curiously. "Usually you ask, '_How soon will they leave Tokyo_?'"

Enji thinks back to the discussion he had with the Chief of Police before he was able to access the files about the UA incident. "This incident changes things. It's risky enough for my agency to take tips from vigilantes—"

"_Alleged_ vigilantes," Glass interjects cheerfully.

"But we need to talk in person, see what they know about the League," Enji concludes, clenching his jaw. "Tell the Red and Blue Spirits they're needed in Tokyo."

* * *

Toph groans loudly when she senses Shinsou's approach, a slow jaunty walk as he rolls a terrible no-good bicycle towards her. "This is our day _off_. We are not biking."

It doesn't matter that it's a clear and warm outside today, with just the slightest breeze in the air and birds tweeting around. No, it doesn't matter at all that this is an excellent day for bicycle riding, because _Toph doesn't ride bicycles._

"It's a new bike," Shinsou points out, and she just _knows_ he's grinning like a motherfucker. "We can still go hiking, I agreed to that. But I know you'll pick the hardest trail," he says. "If you're gonna torture _me_, I get to punish _you_ too."

"Punish me? Control yourself Hitoshi, we're in _public_," Toph replies slyly. Shinsou literally trips over his own feet in response, which counts as a win for her. "Oh, that one got to you, didn't it? _Loser_," she cackles.

Toph Beifong and Hitoshi Shinsou have been friends for four years now, and for good reason. Having villain parents tends to blacken one's sense of humor—so now, Hitoshi's cynicism meshed well with her own. Toph could joke with Hitoshi about things that would make Inasa squeamish or leave Shouto confused. Maybe it was a coping mechanism, but mostly Toph just saw it as part of their friendship.

It probably started around the time that Natsuo introduced Toph to dirty jokes and Hitoshi got a smartphone and discovered internet humor. No matter the instigating factor, at some point in junior high the two of them entered a game of chicken and they've been goading each other with vulgar jokes ever since.

Shinsou groans. "Here I was offering you wholesome fun, and your gross mind had to go there," he complains, flicking out the kickstand and letting go of the bike's handles. Toph laughs, a clever response forming on her tongue. But then Shinsou take a step too close, and without a word envelops her in a tight hug.

"Ah," Toph manages to get out a single syllable before the rest of her sentence flies off into the void. His heart beats steadily under her ear, and she wraps her arms around his torso obligingly, feeling the tension in his frame. "I'm _okay_, Snoozles, sheesh."

His hold tightens around her for the briefest moment before she's released from the cage of his long arms. "I was worried," he says quietly, hands still resting on her shoulders. "Yoarashi and I wanted to wait for you yesterday, but Endeavor showed up at the gate and I figured we'd give you space."

Toph rolls her eyes. "Please, like a couple of no-name villains could take me down," she scoffs, but nothing she does can erase the tight, coiling delight in her chest. Toph doesn't know how to address just how touched she is by their concern. She had texts from most of her classmates flood in after the incident too, in a group chat too fast-paced for Toph to keep track of with her text-to-voice app. Inasa had talked to her for over an hour last night, and the only reason he wasn't joining them today was because he was with Shouto, probably trying to bundle him in bubblewrap.

"Of course not." Shinsou's hands slip off her shoulders, settling once more on the bike and quickly moving onto less serious concerns. "So. Bike ride?" Toph frowns. "Pout all you want, you big baby."

She scowls instead. "Do we _have_ to?"

"Come on, it's not like this is your first time." Shinsou pauses, registering the innuendo at the same time as her. "_Hah_. Don't worry, I'll be gentle with you."

"Shut it," Toph can feel heat creep up her face, but stubbornly moves towards the contraption, resting her hand on the seat. "Huh, this is different. I actually get to sit down now?" Toph points to the back wheel, which has a flat metal grate affixed to the top of it. There's also a larger basket in the front of the bike, currently holding Shinsou's stuff.

"I did say it was new," he agrees, balancing on the bike but leaving the kickstand down. "Just keep your feet away so I don't hit you while I pedal."

Carefully, Toph climbs on, already disliking how precarious the balance is. It's easier than standing on the back wheel, but she still anchors herself with the back of Shinsou's t-shirt. "A train would be faster."

"Aren't I better company, though?" Shinsou quips right back. "On a bike there's no gross businessman to leer at you."

"Nah, you're gross all on your own," Toph jibes automatically, lifting her legs carefully so Shinsou can begin to pedal.

"You always say the sweetest things," Shinsou croons, making a tight turn.

Toph resists the urge to jab him in the ribcage, looking thoughtful. "But actually, Shinsou, do… do people ever look at me weirdly on the train?" She doesn't often think about how she looks or dresses, but Endeavor _did_ once tell her that she fit the profile of most female victims of predators, which is not something she's likely to forget anytime soon.

"No," Shinsou assures her quickly, "I mean it _might_ happen, but I haven't noticed anything besides that guy last summer, the bird-mutation man?" Toph cringes, remembering the encounter. She'd been on the train with Shinsou and his father, returning home after dark, and even standing with an adult and a friend there had been some dude staring at her for five stops. "Are you gonna keep taking the train to class? The chances are higher the more often you travel alone."

"I don't need a driver," Toph reminds him firmly. "And you _know_ I can take care of myself—"

"I know, I know, but you literally—" Shinsou clicks his tongue, annoyed but not with her. "You don't see how creepy people can get. It's messed up. But it's not illegal to stare, so like—at least keep Todoroki around to do the _scary look_ for you."

Toph barks out a laugh. She'd argue further about the whole creeps on public transportation issue, but the truth is Toph doesn't want to run into weirdos if she can help it. The excess vibrations from the train tracks coupled with her normal footwear means her sight is pretty limited in train cars. Toph instead focuses on the latter portion of Shinsou's words. "The scary look? Hey, is that a thing now? I think my classmates are afraid of him."

"Really? Why would…" Shinshou trails off thoughtfully. Then he chuckles, and she can feel the vibrations of his chest through the back of his shirt. "I bet Todoroki has never been in a men's locker room before UA, has he?"

"Huh?" Toph raises her eyebrows. "I mean, yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

He clears his throat. "Well, think about it. What kind of things do girls talk about in the locker room?"

"Boys," Toph answers without hesitation. "Like, _relentlessly_. Who's cute, who's handsome, who's just hot. I had no idea there was a difference until I met Ashido. Also, like, bra sizes and shit." She listens for a moment, and Shinsou doesn't respond verbally but she sure can hear his heart rate go up. "Aw, you're _embarrassed_," Toph laughs again.

"Didn't think you would tell me so quickly," Shinsou mutters, his heart still thumping. "But, uh, my point is—guys talk about girls the same way. Aaaand there's a pervy kid in 1-A, right? The short one?"

"Yeah?" Toph agrees, surprised Shinsou already knows about the kid. "What, the sticky kid said something gross and Shouto's_ protecting my honor?_" She guesses, half-joking.

But Shinsou just hums in response, not laughing along with her, and her humor dies quickly. "I think that's exactly it, Beifong."

"Oh, come _on_," Toph quirks an eyebrow, "Really? It's one thing if it's the perv guy, but Shouto totally scared off _Midoriya_ the other day."

"Midoriya?" He questions. "Haven't met him."

"He's like a puppy in human form," Toph explains.

Shinsou snorts. "Maybe Todoroki doesn't like dogs."

"I'm serious, Snoozles," Toph presses, tapping his back insistently. "It's ridiculous, and he can't be so hostile with everyone."

"Todoroki's just overprotective," Shinsou offers honestly. "That's his default…. And not just because you're a girl. He checks in with Yoarashi a lot to talk about training. Hell, he texted me after the first day of school asking if anyone had given me trouble about Puppetmaster."

Toph's eyebrows shoot up her forehead in surprise. "That's… huh, that's…"

"Overkill?"

"Sweet," Toph settles on, though for some reason she almost feels dismayed now. "I mean, _I_ never thought about asking you that, even though we started a new school."

"You don't have to, no one's mentioned it," Shinsou assures her, slowly pressing on the brakes to bring the bike to a stop. Toph lets her foot drop to the pavement for a moment, feeling the cars roll by as they wait for the light to change. "But it was nice of him to ask. Todoroki's kind of oblivious at times, but he's… thoughtful when he tries."

Toph lifts her foot and readjusts her grasp on his shirt as he begins pedaling again. Despite how perceptive she is, Toph knows she's not the most sensitive person. She doesn't _want_ to be, anyway. But she cares about her friends. It just never comes naturally to her—hugging someone after they've been through danger, checking in to see if they're okay. She's not that kind of person. Maybe because she's just… not a kind person.

She snorts to herself. _If I was a kind person I'd be sitting still and prettily for the Beifongs right now,_ Toph decides. _Kindness is overrated. _

"Shouto needs to lay off," Toph concludes, brushing aside her other thoughts. "I can handle classmates on my own."

Shinsou chuckles. "I don't doubt it. I kinda wanna watch you kick Class 1-A's ass."

"What, all of them?" Toph grins. "Just wait for the Sports Festival, I'll kick their asses and yours too."

"Are you _sure_ about that?" Shinsou taunts immediately. It's like he's dangling a fishing line before her, he's so obvious when he asks her _Questions_.

Except. Well. Toph has never _not_ answered Hitoshi. She ain't a coward. And Toph can't help but run her mouth, so.

(She may have a hard time in the future, fighting Shinsou for real.)

"_I'll end your whole life—_" And then Shinsou's quirk hooks her, entering her into a pleasant fog.

_Bastard,_ she thinks, the only coherent thought left.

It only lasts a second, and then consciousness rushes back in. Toph jerks forward with a shriek to regain her balance before she slides right off the bike. "You little bitch," she gripes, clutching around Shinsou's torso like it's a lifeline. "I'd rather you just throw me off the bike at this point."

Shinsou, who's been laughing his ass off this entire time, doesn't even jolt when she grabs him, the bike still gliding along smoothly. Just goes to show how much practice he's had balancing with a squirmy earthbender. "Sorry," he says, utterly unrepentant. "You really were asking for it though."

* * *

When they get to the mountainous area outside of the prefecture, Shinsou lives up to his word. He lets her choose the hardest route, a trail that's borderline rock climbing, though he does whine every time she tries to pick up their pace. He's not weak, not after years of her bossing him around on bike trails and playgrounds, but he's also done very limited physical training. And the mountainside is basically Toph's ideal terrain, so she has the edge over him. She knows where to step to avoid loose rocks, how to shift her weight properly without even thinking about it as she ascends.

Toph cuts him some slack after an especially difficult stretch of terrain, earthbending them a smooth bench to stop and rest on. They collapse on the earthen ground side by side, dusty and more than a little sweaty under the midday sun. Her wrist tingles with a strange ache, probably still sore from yesterday, but it doesn't stop her from punching Shinsou in the arm for good measure. "Slowpoke," she grumbles, sitting up.

"Ow," Shinsou laughs, falling over onto his side. He lifts his head. "Is this abuse?" He asks, not for the first time.

Toph presses the palm of her hand over his forehead and shoves him away. "If it is, you have an odd way of reacting."

He gives a low hum of complaint. "But it _hurts so good_," Shinsou says, head tilted against her hand as he sits up. Except his voice isn't sarcastic like she expects—instead it's low and throaty. Something about his voice strikes differently; thrums like harmony from an untuned instrument. It's nice. It's _very_ nice.

Then he reverts to a familiar deadpan, "Harder, babe."

Toph slides her hand away from his forehead and she swats his arm. "You're a _freak_," she complains.

Shinsou huffs. "Sadist," he grouses, though he's not even trying to move away anymore. For all his bravado, she can hear the quickened pace of his heart. He's kind of embarrassed, but she doesn't know why.

"That makes you a _masochist_," Toph volleys back, like nothing's changed, like she's not thinking about how deep his voice has gotten compared to when they first met. It's the only thing that keeps this from being totally new territory.

"Only for you," Shinsou keeps his head ducked down, hanging over her shoulder. His words are suddenly velveteen, wrapping her in warmth that has nothing to do with his quirk or the sun beating down on them. "_You_ can do whatever you want to me."

"That's—" Toph can't even get the words out, her tongue turned to lead. This is a terrible new addition to his arsenal. Not only for when they were joking around; Toph can imagine the sort of efficacy his quirk will have if he did something like this in a fight.

He chuckles suddenly. "You're looking feverish. Was it something I _said_?"

This is unfair. Shinsou has definitely said more embarrassing shit than this without leaving her speechless. All he's done is lean closer and talk slower, it shouldn't—it doesn't—affect her at all, no way.

"You're just trying to stall me, aren't you?" Toph says abruptly, brushing her bangs back. "C'mon Snoozles, let's keep climbing."

"Already?" Shinsou fusses, getting to his feet after her. "We were just getting started."

_Yeah, you've started something alright,_ Toph can't help but agree.

She steps off the platform and crushes it back into the mountainside, rotating her wrist a few times to rid herself of the continuing ache in her hand. "You're just a slacker, c'mon."

"You're a slave-driver then," he answers back, wicked fast. He still follows her up the trail though, easily brushing off the potent, blatant tension that had built up in the moments between them. He probably has a stupid, smug grin on his face now. "Gonna whip me into shape, huh?"

"Yeah, I'll ask Midnight for her cat o' nine tails," Toph replies, glad she's facing away from him now. There's a nice breeze up here, but it's not cooling her down fast enough.

"Yikes, I take it back," Shinsou shivers, melodramatic. "I can't do masochism, I'm scared of that whip."

"Fair enough, I've heard upperclassmen stories about her," Toph agrees halfheartedly.

Suddenly the earth beneath her trembles, ever so slightly. Which should be generally seen as alarming, but damn if Toph isn't glad for the diversion.

"What was that?" Shinsou asks automatically, coming to a stop against a tree. "An explosion?"

"Maybe?" Toph kicks a shoe off easily, digging her toes into the ground and ignoring Shinsou's pointed comment about her dirty feet. The earth itself isn't trembling, there's no disturbed rocks tumbling down to worry about. There's just—people. _Voices_. Toph snorts loudly. "No need to worry," she promises, tugging her sneaker back on.

"What?" Shinsou asks suspiciously. "What is it?"

The voices carry over to them, echoing through the trees. The two of them wait, close to the crossroads of two hiking trails, and before long two boys appear around the bend, arguing loudly.

"—telling you it was nothing! Fuck _off_, Shitty Hair—"

"Aw, I'm only trying to understand, I mean it was… oh! Yo! Bakugou, look! BEIFONG! _HEY!_" Kirishima howls in their directions, quickly falling into a light jog to meet them.

Toph never thought she'd think this, but _Thank Kami for Bakugou and Kirishima._

"Yo!" She calls back, raising a hand to them.

"Oi, don't you run off on me—!" Bakugou snarls, stomping after the cheerful boy at a more sedate pace.

"_Beifong!_" Kirishima slows down as he nears Toph, but doesn't actually _stop_—and before she knows it, she's being tackled backwards by a hundred-and-something-pounds of sweaty teenage boy. He smells like earth and some brand of deodorant she doesn't recognize, and there's also a sort of human musk she wouldn't normally notice but her face is being crushed against his shirt—

"It's good to see you, dude, I'm glad you're okay!" Kirishima exclaims, hugging her like a clingy octopus. She barely knows Kirishima, so she's more than a little surprised.

Toph pats his back twice before shoving him from her, nose wrinkling a bit. Shinsou has a hand clamped over his mouth, but she can still hear him snickering. "Ugh, don't jump me like that," Toph tells him sourly, doing her best not to snap at Kirishima. He's like a big puppy, much like Midoriya, she'd feel bad if she yelled at him. "I'm fine. Enough _mushiness_."

"Sorry, sorry," Kirishima laughs brightly. "But you looked _rough_ after USJ, dude! You got, like, actually crushed, like _Aizawa_, I saw the crater. Your mouth was all bloody, and—well," he stutters over his words, "It was scary, when you and Midoriya got taken away."

Toph sighs. She's already gone through all this with Shinsou, but Shinsou wasn't there—and right now he's quiet, and seems to be listening closely to Kirishima's account. "It wasn't as bad as it looked. Definitely nothing to hug me over." Bakugou finally makes it over to the three of them, and she jabs a finger in his direction to derail the conversation. "If _you_ ever hug me, I'll kill you."

"Like I'd ever want to, _Earth Bitch,_" Bakugou sneers, and Toph can't help but grin because it's the most _normal_ response he could've given. "Don't _smile_ at me, fuckin' loser…and who the fuck are you? You look like a dead fish."

Shinsou hums noncommittally. "Beifong, you know this thing?"

"_Thing?!_" Bakugou must be frothing at the mouth. Kirishima quickly lays a hand on Bakugou's shoulder.

"Technically we're all things," Kirishima laughs nervously, giving Bakugou a hard pat on the back.

Toph just bites her lip, suppressing a grin. "These are my classmates," she elbows her friend lightly. "Kirishima and Bakugou. This is Shinsou, he's in 1-B."

"Nice to meet you!" Kirishima thrusts out a hand at him. Bakugou just growls like an untrusting dog. "I'm Eijirou Kirishima!"

"Hitoshi Shinsou," he answers flatly, shaking the proffered hand. "You were both at the villain attack, right?" He asks, but there's an odd inflection to his voice. Not like he's going to activate his quirk, but like he's about to do something really rude and wear a resting bitch face the whole time.

"O-oh, yeah," Kirishima answers, sounding a little perplexed. "Hah, it was pretty crazy!"

"Mm, that's what it _seems_ like," Shinsou murmurs, and there's no way to mistake the derision in his tone. "You guys must be so _impressive_ to survive a fight like that."

_Oh. He's starting a fight,_ Toph realizes, keeping her expression carefully neutral. If Shinsou wants to dig his own grave, that's his prerogative.

"Hah?!" Kirishima squeaks, growing upset. "What the heck dude!"

Bakugou, on the other hand, is silently broiling. "Forget it, Shitty Hair. Extras like this one don't even _matter_."

"_What?_" Kirishima yelps, beyond confused.

Shinsou hums, rubbing the back of his neck. Toph feels like there's a lot being said without words, because Bakugou is getting antsy now. "Is this what Class A is like, Beifong?" He pauses, rather dramatically. "What a _let down_."

Even _Toph_ feels the sting from that one. Bakugou literally snarls at the taller student.

"I hope you get complacent at the top," Shinsou continues smoothly, delivering acerbic words like he's spreading butter on warm bread. "Then I'll sweep your feet out from under you."

Toph wants to slap him, bark something derisive to cut through the chilly tension he's created, but that wouldn't be honest, would it? Shinsou's not lying about anything right now. Like earlier, when she'd promised to kick his ass if they were matched up in training—the brainwasher certainly won't go down easily. Of course, he's doing it in a totally different way than before.

"_OH_," Kirishima yells at last, jerking the two other boys out of an impromptu staring contest. "This is about the _Sports Festival_, isn't it?! Dude, that was so _manly!_" Kirishima pumps a fist. "But couldn't you wait till we were back in school before _declaring war?!_"

She snorts. You can only get so intense before the spiky guy kills the tension with his sunny personality.

"Probably," Shinsou deadpans, rolling with the swift change in the atmosphere. "But I figured I'd make a good first impression, while you're here."

"_Tch_," Bakugou's hands twitch, but don't leave his pockets. "Is that all you had to say, you purple fuck?"

"Well, I _am_ still waiting to see if 1-A is really all they say it is," Shinsou shrugs. "That's no joke."

"You can't really mean that," Kirishima gives another nervous laugh. "I mean, aren't you two friends? _Beifong_, you're okay with him saying stuff like this? Shinsou, dude, it's like you're asking for a fight!"

Toph raises her eyebrows at the question. "Yeah, we're friends," she replies, setting her hands on her hips. "We're also rivals. We _all_ are." Then she flashes a smile. "To be fair, I wasn't gonna start picking fights until we were on campus. Right now I just wanna get to the summit and Shinsou _is still stalling me_."

"Not true," Shinsou denies, but he also exhales a short puff of laughter. "You never said we were going to the summit, that'll take ages."

Toph sticks out her tongue. "That's quitter talk, Snoozles. If you were on my level, it'd be easy."

"_Your_ level?" Shinsou scoffs, waving a hand in dismissal. "Hard pass. Kneeling hurts my legs."

Kirishima can't help but snickers alongside Shinsou. Bakugou just clicks his tongue, but she gets the sense he's amused too, so Toph gives them all an unimpressed look. "Don't forget we're on a mountain, boys. I can kick you off it anytime I want."

"That's illegal," Shinsou gasps. "I'm calling Endeavor."

"Oh, fuck off," Toph punches his arm. Shinsou yelps, but then he just laughs at her.

Kirishima swivels his head between the two of them curiously. "Um, actually—" he pauses, and Toph can tell he's probably looking at her now. "I have questions—and I know this is also very personal, Toph, but like, Endeavor was in the news after the USJ attack—" Toph arches an eyebrow. She hasn't heard any of the news coverage about the incident, but she did hear photographers clicking away when she left campus. "Is… is Endeavor your dad?"

Toph's eyes widen. "What."

Shinsou slaps a hand over his mouth and turns away from them, cackling.

"What? It's an honest question!" Kirishima insists. "I mean, you went home with the Todorokis. But last time when I asked if you were siblings you said no?"

Maybe she should've listened to the news before leaving the house… Toph rubs the back of her neck, trying not to frown. "We're not related," she grounds out. "The Todorokis are very private people, so I don't talk about it. I was adopted by their family last year."

"O-Oh." Kirishima balks. "I'm being really insensitive again, aren't I?"

"Don't sweat it, I'm not a very sensitive person," Toph deadpans, crossing her arms. "If it's in the news like you say, I'm sure the rest of the class will ask too." She chews on her lip, brow furrowed. "I don't consider him my father. And Shouto's been my friend for years, but I have a little brother that lives with his blood relative now and—it's just complicated. I don't like explaining myself."

"I see…" Kirishima says, subdued now. "Sorry for asking."

Toph shrugs, not really knowing where to go from here.

"I'm leaving," Bakugou barks out, spinning on his heel and marching away from the conversation. "Fuck all of you."

Bakugou may have the shortest fuse in the world, but she really is grateful for it right now.

"Oi!" Kirishima jolts. "Bakugou, hey!" He begins to go after the explosion boy, but then turns back to Toph and Shinsou. "Which trail are you on?"

Bakugou growls. "The fuck does it matter—"

Toph laughs, utterly delighted for the chance to mess with Blasty. "Wanna hike together?" She guesses. "We're doing the Kamikura route."

"We should join your trail!" Kirishima suggests, vibrant as the summer sun as he talks over Bakugou. "Why not? Kamikura is a hard route, right Beifong?"

"Oi," Bakugou yanks him backwards. "I didn't agree to shit, I ain't about to drag along the blind bitch and her purple sidekick—!"

"Bakubro! It's Beifong—you're probably a great climber to make it this far up! Plus, this is like, the only free day we're gonna have until after the Sports Festival, we should enjoy it together!" Kirishima declares, throwing an arm around Bakugou that the explosive boy immediately shoves off. "Shinsou, what do you think?"

"I don't really care," Shinsou claims, insouciant to a fault. He's like a cat, sometimes, Toph has noticed. Weirdly antisocial but also craving attention. "Either way Toph's making me do this."

Kirishima, willfully overlooking his mood, claps his hands amicably. "... Alright, so we're all hiking together!" he decides gleefully. Toph hears both Shinsou and Bakugou mutter swear words, and bursts into laughter.

"Fuck off, Earth Girl. We're wasting time," Bakugou grumbles, taking the lead to begin their ascent to the summit.

"You sure gave in quickly," Toph notes.

"You wanna die, shithead?" Bakugou snarls her way.

"You first, asshole," She answers easily, not even reacting to the small explosions crackling on his palms as she walks past him. Having learned from their past arguments, Bakugou doesn't try to grab her, and Toph doesn't try to earthbend him into a shallow grave. Neither of them have to say it—they'll save their fight for the Sports Festival, when it actually means something.

"Hey Bakugou, are you the guy Toph bit in the entrance exam?" Shinsou speaks up randomly.

Kirishima chokes. "What?" Bakugou swiftly turns around to threaten the two of them.

"I—!"

"We're over that, Shinsou, he bit me during our mock battle," Toph says dismissively.

"_What?_" Kirishima repeats, in a higher pitch. Then he starts to laugh. "Okay, now I _have_ to hear the story."

Bakugou slowly raises his hand and sets off an explosion over Kirishima's face. But Kirishima keeps laughing, his face hardened and completely unfazed. "Shut the fuck up, hair-for-brains—"

"B-But you _bit_ each other, I can't believe the strongest students in class are such _children_—" Kirishima jerks out of reach before Bakugou can smack him. "Ha! Race you all to the top!" Kirishima declares hastily, scrambling away.

"Oh, like any of you can beat me," Toph scoffs, bounding forward to pass them both.

"Fuck all of you!" Bakugou follows.

* * *

Hitoshi strolls up to meet them at the top of the summit eventually, while Bakugou and Beifong argue loudly over what constitutes as the end of their race. Kirishima is flat on his back, panting in the shade of a tree. They're all gross and drenched with sweat through their clothes, but all he feels is a slight burn in his legs from the climb.

Honestly. Hero students were so easy to manipulate.

He offers a water bottle to Kirishima and sits down next to the red-haired boy. "How long have they been at this for?"

"At least ten minutes," Kirishima replies, accepting the water with a grateful smile. He glances at the two shouting teenagers fondly. "I don't think they're gonna stop any time soon."

"_Good_," Hitoshi says, laying down and closing his eyes. "I needed a nap anyway."

* * *

You'd expect a man like Endeavor to make a ruckus entering a room. Bursting through doors, flames dancing around almost too close for comfort, heavy boots stomping hard enough to feel the vibrations through your toes. That's exactly how Endeavor makes an entrance. It's a known fact about the Number Two Hero. He's fierce, he brings the flaming wrath of justice down on anyone in his path, and he's never seen in public without his blazing suit of fire.

Two men crouch in the rafters of a dark warehouse, silent and motionless as the minutes tick by. The warehouse isn't ideal for a number of reasons, the most pressing concern being the poor visibility throughout the building. The rafters gave the best vantage point, but it also left them an easy target. Still, that was part of the reason this was the meeting place.

Neutral ground and all that shit.

Endeavor enters the room darkly, a trench coat over his costume leaving him desaturated to an inky black without any fire to glint off his belt or regulators. His sidekick is similarly un-ignited, a tall and slender woman with a shark-like grin and an assortment of grenades wrapped over her like an explosive corset.

"Yoo-hoo, LG!" The woman calls out sweetly, her energy vibrant and blinding even in the dirty, damp warehouse. "Come out and play! I'm dyin' ta see our spooks, it's been too long!"

Beside her, Endeavor is blissfully silent. The men in the rafters exchange looks, equally mute. The sidekick is not a new one, just a headstrong hero that didn't know when to hold her tongue. Burnin' was good because she could speak a lot of words without giving anything away.

"It's too early for that kinda energy, babe," comes the raspy response, as a slim man with a reflective head strolls out into the center of the room. "You'll scare off the little demons."

As he says this, the two men in the rafters drop down one after the other, landing with little more than a whisper. All eyes turn to them, though it's only Burnin' that perks up in delight. Endeavor's expression is flat and impassive. Looking Glass gives them a gruff nod.

The two newcomers wear hard, carved masks, completely hiding their faces. One mask is painted deep red, with a scowling mouth carved out wide enough to see the beginnings of a human mouth behind it. Besides the mask, they wear plain, black clothes. In dim light, the scowling mask is all the more intimidating, eerie floating in space alongside twin silvery katanas. The Red Spirit's reputation grows each day, a menacing presence that haunts alleyways. Controversial as he may be, the Red Spirit has successfully deterred petty crime in four prefectures over the past six months.

Touya's mask is blue, with a grinning face and no mouth piece carved through it. He doesn't have a prehensile tongue like Stendhal, so there's no need for it. The swords he uses are tempered differently than the Red Spirit's katanas to work in tandem with Cremation, though he tends to replace them more often. Touya doesn't have any reputation at all, and he doesn't patrol like a wannabe hero, but he's been spotted beside the Red Spirit often enough that a nickname developed for him anyway.

"The Blue Spirit, in the flesh! You look dashing as ever!" Burnin' beams his way, as subtle as a freight train. He doesn't answer, but blows her a kiss because it pisses off both Endeavor and Stendhal.

"What's the big deal, calling us back here?" Stendhal cuts to the chase, his voice low and gritty. "The Miyagi syndicate's been handled by the local police, LG must've told you."

"I'm aware," Endeavor is the one to speak this time, his eyes intense as he looks between the three masked men. "The evidence is still circumstantial, but it looks like we're being forced to expand this case." There is no doubt that Endeavor is beyond angry about this.

"Oho," The reflective man, Looking Glass, is the first to recover. "The hell does that mean?"

"It means more police interference, and bringing out the big guns!" Burnin' chirps, her face still cheery despite the edge to her voice.

_Endeavor_ was supposed to be the big guns. That was the whole point of cooperating with Looking Glass, a down and dirty sort of underground hero that Stendhal and Touya stumbled across a year ago. With LG's help, they dove into the web of horrors that was Amon's Vision. This is about the same time that Stendhal and Dabi started going by the Red and Blue Spirits, sporting theater masks and dual blades. They worked with the silver-masked man on a number of smaller cases, and LG learned to look the other way when Stendhal or Touya took the lead.

At some point, they gained a good enough rap to stop the current cases against them. And that's when LG introduced the Spirits to the current group in charge of the official investigation of Amon's Vision—the Flame Hero Agency.

Touya recalled his middle-school-level reading terms the first time he laid eyes on Endeavor as the Blue Spirit. _Dramatic irony,_ that's the fucking word.

At the moment, Touya is looking pointedly at the Flame Hero in silent accusation. They were risking a lot by being in contact with the Number Two hero—Touya is suffering a lot, looking at the Number Two Hero—and yet the damn investigation is going nowhere.

Endeavor doesn't sneer, but he certainly looks annoyed. Without any flames over his face, it's all too easy to make out the twitches of frustration rippling over the hero's expression. He looks… old.

Finally, the Flame Hero responds. "There was an attack on UA last week."

That's the last thing he expected Endeavor to say. Touya heard about the attack, but he'd been working in Miyagi for the past month and rarely had access to cable news.

Stendhal clicks his tongue. "What of it?"

"One of the attackers was an experiment, some modified host grafted with multiple sets of DNA." Endeavor gestures to the sidekick, who brings out files for them to flip through. "That alone would be enough to get me involved, but—" and here, for the first time, Touya watches the Flame Hero struggle for words; hears a sliver of emotion strangle his voice. "There are also four students that were admitted to UA this year that have been previously targeted by Amon's Vision."

"Including your kids," Looking Glass points out, going for the kill like a huntsman loosing an arrow.

Touya stiffens, but no one notices because Endeavor freezes too and it's much more noticeable. Kids, LG said, plural. But only Shouto Todoroki could be in UA, his siblings are older and out of high school.

"Yes," Endeavor agrees evenly. Touya has no idea what to think of that. "They were involved from the start, back when I worked the Elementals case."

"Back when you forgot the Elementals case," Touya mutters frankly, surprising even himself for a moment. His voice is carefully muffled by the mask, and he gives no hint of emotions curling over his limbs, blazing in his chest, but hearing him speak at all draws attention from everyone.

"Yes," Endeavor answers neutrally. "Though I don't recall the Spirits being active back then, so don't presume to know how it all went down, brat." He gives the young man a calculating look, searching for any reaction. Touya knows the Flame Agency is putting together profiles for him and Stendhal, though, and holds his tongue.

"We know enough," Stendhal cuts in, effectively dragging the hero's focus away. "So we know you're only interested in this case because you've lost to AV before."

Touya pulls his eyes from the Flame Hero casually, picking through the report handed over to him. Nothing seemed to be redacted, though the report wasn't as complete as Touya thought it should be. He pauses over the students mentioned in the file, hands going still. First year students. No names had been given, but there were two students that got close enough to the villain leaders to give detailed reports. A male student with super-strength, and a female student with geokinesis.

Touya will be twenty-four this year. When he entered the Quirk Rumble, he'd been sixteen years old. She had been so small the first time they'd met. Scrawny and agile, with unfathomable strength. Eight? Nine years old? That meant she could be as old as _sixteen_ by now.

No. It was impossible to imagine her as a teenager so soon. It couldn't be _her_.

His hand is shaking. He quickly curls his fingers into a fist so it's less noticeable.

Endeavor gives a sharp exhale through his nose, just shy of igniting the air like an irritable dragon. "My _point_," he continues, looking Touya in the eye again, blue to blue, so dead-on that he panics for a moment thinking Endeavor could see turquoise irises mirrored in the depths of his mask—"is that there could be a correlation between the attack and the students. The villains claimed to be after All Might, but everyone I've spoken with seems to doubt this is their only motive."

There was nothing in the report that explicitly stated that any students with knowledge of AV were there to confront this 'Nomu' thing, but Endeavor seemed rather certain there was some connection to be made about it. The Flame Agency had countless anonymous contacts they were filtering information from, so it wasn't so far-fetched to think the agency would accept tips from underage civilians but keep their identity from getting around. The only two sources that could be informing the Flame Agency about the AV connection to the Nomu incident were the ones that got closest to the villains, and neither student described seemed to be Endeavor's youngest son.

A girl with geokinesis confronted the villain leader…

Stendhal shifts ostensibly, drawing Endeavor's eye again. "You think the little wannabes are in danger?"

Endeavor looks over the Red Spirit disdainfully, probably thinking something along the lines of_ I can crush you like the impudent bug you are. _

"Aw, but UA's probably the safest place for them," Looking Glass murmurs reasonably, smoothing over the conversation as usual. He's still flipping through the file given to him. "The League of Villains, you say? You knuckleheads heard of em? They must've been recruiting for a while for the number of villains that showed up."

Touya crosses his arms tightly and nods once. Stendhal answers, reluctantly, "We heard someone was collecting thugs for a job, but there was no way of knowing the scale of it."

"Giran," Touya adds, and Stendhal nods at the reminder.

"The broker must have pulled on a lot of threads for this. Whoever's in charge of the League, they're up there. Giran wouldn't give away so many grunts for just anybody." Stendhal surmises, annoyance drawn in every line of his stance. They'll have to pay the broker a visit sometime soon to sort through that.

"So, even if the League's a separate entity, they're sure causing a stir on their own!" Burnin' interjects, her grin pointed and strained."Y'might wanna shop around for some tips on them."

"Are we really bringing All Might into the fold?" Looking Glass presses, flipping the paper file shut and handing it back to Endeavor. "This ain't a clean-cut deal we're working. He's not the kind to dig into the _gray_ shit." Neither was Endeavor, or at least that's what Touya had thought at first. "You've at least got a bone to pick with this lot, after they pulled the wool over your eyes with that brainwasher." Looking Glass continues.

Endeavor takes the file back from LG and promptly incinerates it in his palm. Well shit, Touya better take a good look at his copy before he turns it to ash too.

"They've gotten away with too much for too long," Endeavor replies firmly, shaking the ash off his hands. "Bringing new eyes to the issue could be the push we need, but it might also slow down the progress we've made at first." He looks directly at the two vigilantes. "Your cooperation has done a lot for this case, but if things keep going this way, you'll be shut out."

This comes as a surprise to both the vigilantes and their underground contact. "I see how it is. Can't let the public know you're fraternizing with our type," Stendhal sneers, rolling his shoulders agitatedly. "I don't know why Glass ever thought a pitiable man like you could be of use."

"_Quiet_," Endeavor mutters coldly, and it's like ice dripping down Touya's spine. Some things don't change. "You're not any type of hero, don't kid yourself. I can't technically _prove_ you're Stendhal, but don't fucking think I won't turn you in if you step out of line while we're still cooperating."

The two of them stare each other down with far more venom than Touya thinks is necessary. Stendhal has killed villains and suspected villains, but he's not some big time vigilante that the Number Two would bother himself with. The vigilante's philosophy was a bit twisted, but he wasn't well-known. Yet something about the way Endeavor glowers at the Red Spirit seems oddly personal. Touya doesn't have the slightest idea of what kind of history Endeavor and Stendhal could share.

Suddenly Endeavor's eyes are on Touya again. "You're a _novice_ under that mask," he says plainly, and Touya startles at the attention.

"Did I fucking _ask_ for your opinion—?"

"—I don't know what has you so invested in this case, but I can take a few guesses," Endeavor continues calmly, blue eyes flickering to the dual swords strapped to his back for the briefest moment. "And I can guess you'll keep inserting yourself into this case, even if we cut you out." He sounds neither annoyed with or opposed to this outcome, merely accepting. "...If it comes to that, the least you can do is not get caught."

Touya feels bile rise up his throat, but he pushes it down. He crumples the file still in his hands, mashing it down into a ball between his fingers and cremating the paper so quickly, there's nothing but a glimmer of blue to show for it. "Don't worry, hero," he assures the man blandly, shaking the greyish dust from his palms. "We wouldn't want to spoil your reputation, now, would we?"

The Flame Hero simply turns his back to them, walking away. Burnin' flashes them a peace sign before trailing after him.

Looking Glass scratches his nose awkwardly through his mask. "Keep a better lid on that temper, boy," he heckles, tilting his head at Touya. "You were doin' well until you opened your fat mouth."

"You're the one that had to go and mention his kids," Stendhal growls, turning his attention to the silver-headed man. "You get anything from him?"

"Just a better look-see. This is a rare opportunity for a fella like me, seein' such a famed hero without the mask," he rocks on his heels playfully. "There's a lot he hides, but there's a lot he showed today, too."

"And?" Touya pulls his eyes from the empty doorway, back to Looking Glass. The underground hero was a sort of empath, but the exact workings of his quirk remained a mystery to all.

Looking Glass rolls his neck muscles slowly, humming to himself. "Funny guy, that Endeavor. You know he went to UA himself after the attack? He was serious about there being a connection to the students. He must know UA's going to increase their security, but he's worried anyway."

Endeavor was worried about the safety of hero students? Touya's known for a while that Enji Todoroki's been trying to reshape his public image, but it was another thing entirely to see this personality shift in person. "Did I miss something?" Touya cuts in. "Since when does Endeavor have more than one kid at UA?"

"Oh, you haven't been readin' the gossip rags?" Looking Glass gives a gruff laugh. The man tilts his head to look at the two vigilantes, as if dissecting them through their masks. Not that Looking Glass could read people without a clear visual of their faces. "Most people know about Shouto Todoroki, but there's a girl, too. No name on public record yet, but just give the paparazzi time to work their magic. Or wait and watch the Sports Festival. I'm sure Endeavor's mystery daughter will take center stage."

* * *

Touya waits until they're back in their shithole apartment before finally breaking his silence. He turns to Stendhal and says, "Do you remember that earthbending girl from the Quirk Rumble?"

Stendhal lets his red mask clatter across the battered coffee table, pinning Touya with sharp black eyes. "How do you know Beifong?"

"'_Beifong_'?" Touya repeats, alarmed. "Why the fuck do _you_ know her real name? She's been out of the underground fights for years."

"She told me," Stendhal snaps, glaring at Touya with suspicion. "What about _you, _Dabi?"

"_When?_" Touya ignores his question, and there's a strange, squirming feeling in his stomach now. "How?"

"You first," Stendhal shoots back. "Is she involved with AV—?" His eyes widen in realization. "Dabi. Is that kid the reason you got so invested in taking down Amon's Vision?"

"No," Touya says immediately. "But she was one of the kids at Cato Hospital. And now I'm pretty sure she's in that report from UA—"

"Back up," Stendhal growls. "_You_ know Beifong. She recognized _me_ on the street last year, and I haven't seen her since."

"Last year? And you never thought to mention it until now?" He demands, bewildered.

"It wasn't any of your business," Stendhal points out, almost sounding defensive. "Except apparently it is. Now what's all this about her being_ Endeavor's kid?_"

Touya runs a bruised hand through his hair, beside himself. He was stressed enough after talking to the fucking Flame Hero again, absolutely hated having to look that man in the face and "work" with him. Not to mention the League of Villains, who were either allies or rivals with Amon's Vision, and he and Stendhal were basically tasked with finding out.

But now there's a whole new element to this freaking situation with that damn earth girl, again. The irony is stronger than ever. She isn't a blood relative to the Flame Hero, but beyond that… _"I have no_ idea."

* * *

_A/N: I was going to save the last sections of this chapter for a later chapter, but... I'm too excited for my own story. I love Touya, he's even more of a mess now. Also, holy shit, I couldn't even fit in Inasa or anyone else from UA, Shinsou took up so much of this chapter flirting-haha-not-really-unless? with Toph. Only the best teenage drama for my best girl. _

_I took the name 'Looking Glass' from a really cool character from HBO's version of Watchmen, I love his stupid mask. Burnin' is a canon sidekick in the manga, if you're up to date!_

_**PLEASE READ: I'm more active on AO3; there's a version of this story posted on that site, under the same title, and it's usually a few chapters ahead of this version. if you have questions, or really want to stay up to date with this fic, I suggest reading it on AO3!**_


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